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Don't forget that the woman of the house may have little projects for you. Maybe she's tired of jiggling that handle, and wants it fixed, today. You just want to relax, but she wants it taken care of. How do you think home improvement stores stay in business? Men with wives wanting "improvements" on the home.
This is true. We live in Illinois, and you are right. We don't even water our grass, and it grows like crazy during the summer. Weekend mowing almost isn't enough; my husband will mow twice some weeks. Two or three days after you mow, it looks shaggy and unkempt again.
And the raking ... egads.
I do agree that the type of work may not balance, though. Two hours a day of housework (cooking, cleaning, laundry, getting the kids ready for school) is easily achieved, but 14 hours of yardwork? Probably not. And tinkering around on your hobby car doesn't count.
Hi JustJulia,
You also need to account for novelty pain in the *ss work is not just time worked. When I hung the ceiling fan a few months ago it was about pain in cramped areas with insulation dust. It took six hours due to installing a proper mount for it. The same goes for changing a thermostat in January...pain..and more pain. I am sure I will enjoy the stink of cleaning the gutters as when I route out our pluming with the snake. I have done both routine housework and that which requires concentration like installing shelving. The routine work is a bit easier. Walking behind a mower is like day dreaming.
Though I don't mind, my wife does not complain; she appreciates me and she gives me my just rewards.
Depends on where you live. In Illinois, we had four seasons. Part of spring, you were mowing the yard. We had a "nut-buster" too. You also had the planting of the garden to do, since everything died during the winter. Summer, you mowed the grass every week, and it grew fast enough you could do it twice a week, plus you had the weeding of the garden to do. Come fall, you had leaves to rake, and still weeding those gardens. When winter came, you had to clear the sidewalks and driveway of the home--and if you were "lucky" enough to have a gravel driveway, you had a LOT of fun trying to clear it of snow.
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Originally Posted by TKramar
Additionally, you would get little "projects" to do throughout the year. Maybe she wanted some bookshelves built in the living room. Maybe she wanted all the furniture rearranged--you think she was going to lift the couch or the mattresses? Or flipping them every three to four months--who got THAT job?
Quote:
Don't forget that the woman of the house may have little projects for you. Maybe she's tired of jiggling that handle, and wants it fixed, today. You just want to relax, but she wants it taken care of. How do you think home improvement stores stay in business? Men with wives wanting "improvements" on the home.
Actually, Ive never seen a man rearrange furniture. Yes I flip mattresses and move the furniture. Still mowing once a week for what 3 months, 12 hrs a yr. Women also do most of the gardening plus canning. And how many times a yr. do you shovel your driveway?
Still dosent measure up to cooking 2-3 meals everyday then washing dishes 3 times everyday, making beds everyday, sweeping, moping, vacuuming, dusting, laundry. Scrubbing toilets, sinks and tubs. Cleaning the fridge and cleaning the oven/stove. Washing windows. Then doing the shopping, paying bills. Have I forgotten anything?
Yeah, sometimes some men do home improvement projects, but isnt it their house?
That reminds me. I do all the gardening, canning and drying...along with the delicious weeds I find of course. I usually give house guests a jar of wild apple, thimble berry, or mulberry jam.
You also need to account for novelty pain in the *ss work is not just time worked. When I hung the ceiling fan a few months ago it was about pain in cramped areas with insulation dust. It took six hours due to installing a proper mount for it. The same goes for changing a thermostat in January...pain..and more pain. I am sure I will enjoy the stink of cleaning the gutters as when I route out our pluming with the snake. I have done both routine housework and that which requires concentration like installing shelving. The routine work is a bit easier. Walking behind a mower is like day dreaming.
Though I don't mind, my wife does not complain; she appreciates me and she gives me my just rewards.
Hello, Gwynedd. The jobs you describe can be tedious and difficult, yes, but they are also rare events. It's not like you will install ceiling fans every few months. Your thermostat should last for years. Cleaning gutters, routing the plumbing ... yes, these are smelly, grungy jobs, but they also take place once or twice a year.
Smaller, more frequent jobs that equate in smaller-scale grossness are changing dirty diapers, scrubbing toilets, cleaning out the refrigerator, washing moldy food containers, changing the cat litter, cleaning up after the dog. I would gladly trade some of the tasks I do for a few hours on the roof, cleaning gutters.
Hello, Gwynedd. The jobs you describe can be tedious and difficult, yes, but they are also rare events. It's not like you will install ceiling fans every few months. Your thermostat should last for years. Cleaning gutters, routing the plumbing ... yes, these are smelly, grungy jobs, but they also take place once or twice a year.
Smaller, more frequent jobs that equate in smaller-scale grossness are changing dirty diapers, scrubbing toilets, cleaning out the refrigerator, washing moldy food containers, changing the cat litter, cleaning up after the dog. I would gladly trade some of the tasks I do for a few hours on the roof, cleaning gutters.
I am just saying an hour is not an hour. I rather rather do all the above than the taxes.
My mother was a SAHM, as was her choice, and my dad worked full time, often traveling for his job. They never considered their marriage as anything other than teamwork (definitely not a hierarchy.) I've always thought it was ironic that Dad would be considered the "head of household" simply because he is a man. When we were all kids my mother managed the home, did all the shopping, cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc., kept track of doctors appointments and household maintenance schedules, took care of taxes and all finances. Not to say that my dad did nothing, but his jobs were pretty much lawn care and taking out the trash.
It may be my suburban upbringing, but I don't know anyone who works on their own car or does major work on their homes themselves. If something breaks, you call someone to fix it, you don't fix it yourself.
Actually, Ive never seen a man rearrange furniture. Yes I flip mattresses and move the furniture. Still mowing once a week for what 3 months, 12 hrs a yr. Women also do most of the gardening plus canning. And how many times a yr. do you shovel your driveway?
Still dosent measure up to cooking 2-3 meals everyday then washing dishes 3 times everyday, making beds everyday, sweeping, moping, vacuuming, dusting, laundry. Scrubbing toilets, sinks and tubs. Cleaning the fridge and cleaning the oven/stove. Washing windows. Then doing the shopping, paying bills. Have I forgotten anything?
Yeah, sometimes some men do home improvement projects, but isnt it their house?
I don't shovel the driveways, because we don't have snow here. But I guess that's the advantage of a man having a son--he can have his son do these things instead of him. I had to shovel them more than once a week so the car could get out, and the sidewalks cleared. My mother didn't rearrange the furniture unless she had someone to MOVE the stuff for her. There were things she would have liked to have done, but she waited until she had a man in her life to do them for her. I didn't know how to do any of those things at the time.
My mother was a SAHM, as was her choice, and my dad worked full time, often traveling for his job. They never considered their marriage as anything other than teamwork (definitely not a hierarchy.) I've always thought it was ironic that Dad would be considered the "head of household" simply because he is a man. When we were all kids my mother managed the home, did all the shopping, cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc., kept track of doctors appointments and household maintenance schedules, took care of taxes and all finances. Not to say that my dad did nothing, but his jobs were pretty much lawn care and taking out the trash.
It may be my suburban upbringing, but I don't know anyone who works on their own car or does major work on their homes themselves. If something breaks, you call someone to fix it, you don't fix it yourself.
Cheaper when you don't have to call someone else in. And not at all out of the question to learn and do for yourself. It may be my impoverished upbringing.
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