Priorities… Priorities

It’s no surprise that hubby and I don’t necessarily prioritize things in the same order. I’d actually venture a guess that most men & women, when given the same list of tasks, would put them in severely contrasting order.

 

So, it should go without saying that if hubby and I had to prioritize the following things, our lists might differ tremendously

 

“Bigger” tasks that need attention:

• Fixing an outdoor light
• Fixing our kitchen cabinet
• Replacing the railing in the basement
• Replacing our sliding door
• Replacing a basement window

 

Now, you’ll notice, I’ve only listed 5 tasks (off my list of, oh say, 40-50 projects)  3 of which are OUTDOOR so would actually require attention BEFORE it gets too cold outside.

 

So, here’s my priority list:

1. Replace the sliding door (we’ve actually had the replacement door in the garage for over 6 months – yes, I couldn’t make this up… we’ve had it ALL summer)
2. Replace the basement window (this has needed replacement since the day we moved into this house – almost 5 years ago!)
3. Fix the outdoor light (it just broke this summer and we already have a replacement fixture in the garage)
4. Replace the railing in the basement (for safety reasons… so no one falls down our stairs!)
5. Fix the kitchen cabinet (this is a BIG one… and it goes last because we really need to make a firm decision to do a small modification or a massive kitchen renovation)

 

Here’s hubby’s priority list:

1. Research motorcycles on line
2. Buy new motorcycle
3. Ride new motorcycle (because, and I quote, “this needs to happen BEFORE it gets too cold outside”)
4. Clean a section of the garage (to store motorcycle)
5. Play video games (this pretty much occupies any leftover time……)

 

Perhaps you noticed something about hubby’s list. YES, you are correct…. It doesn’t actually address any of the tasks!!  And, therein lies my challenge.

 

If my dear hubby would put as much (or even a fraction) of the energy into something he doesn’t like as he does into something he likes, I’d be willing to bet my list of 50 projects would only have about 6-7 left. But, he’s a man… and he focuses on the things that bring him happiness. These things obviously don’t include tasks that keep our house warm during the winter (like say, a sliding door that the wind can’t blow through).

 

Now, I can assure you that if I had things on that list like: Buy a New TV or Install Surround Sound, I’d bet my bottom dollar that they would have made it onto hubby’s list. I might even go so far as to say they could possibly bump playing video games down to #7 or #8. But alas, this seems to be yet another battle that I cannot win….. so yes, I continue to nag. If only men would realize that nagging is actually a conditioned response to their own behavior… they would live in a much happier world!.

 

There’s a relatively simple formula to have a happy home (in addition to cleaning ladies!).

 

Acknowledgment of a task + Completion of a task = No Nagging.

 

Now if only I could get hubby to be better at math!

 

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