# How do your men help around the house?



## mothernature (Aug 22, 2010)

So I was talking to a friend earlier about our how great our husbands are for helping around the house when we have busy work schedules. We realized we need to not be so fussy on HOW they get things done, just be happy they try to be so helpful!! I've learned men are very creative when doing housework. My husband's idea of dusting is putting the brush attachment on the vacuum hose, works GREAT on blinds and ceiling fans, and I guess good enough on anything else that doesn't end up in the vacuum. I stepped in the shower one night to find a nice clean shower curtain, husband's truck was also nice and clean that day. Found out he took it down, spread it out under the carport next to the truck and washed them both. So how do your men help you, I'd love to hear!!


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## fetch33 (Jan 15, 2010)

Well, mine will do laundry but not put it away. My sister's ex would vacuum... it entailed moving every piece of furniture, LOL.


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## Laura Zone 5 (Jan 13, 2010)

Hmmmm
Dh doesn't do house work.
He does the outside stuff, like mowin' grass, taking out trash, auto maintenance, choppin wood, motorcycle maintenance, puttin' up fence, building raised beds, plowing out the driveway when it snows, shovels sidewalks......
And he works 40+hours a week.

There ain't no way I am asking that man to lift ONE finger in this house.
Me and my daughters do all the cookin/cleanin/shopping/laundry there is to do!!


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## ejagno (Jan 2, 2008)

DH has finally started helping out a little. It only took him 30 years to jump in and join the effort. He's a Chef so his idea of helping is cooking. The problem is that he leaves a huge mess in the wake. I had surgery a while back and woke up to find a spotless house. The problem is that for weeks I couldn't find anything. I found it.........................all stuffed in the storeroom. Defrosting a freezer was the first time I'd ever seen him use the leaf blower. Instead of raking he'll make 30 more passes with the lawn tractor blowing the grass into the ditch. When my sweetie does chores it brings a whole new meaning to "cause and effect". LOL


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## CrashTestRanch (Jul 14, 2010)

I cook
grocery shop
do my own laundry
built and tend the garden
vacuum
wash/fold the towels/bed sheets
feed the animals
bathe the animals
clean off the table
put away dishes and food

how much more should I be doing for the "household" as "my fair share"?


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## mothernature (Aug 22, 2010)

Sounds like you do more than your fair share! I work A LOT of hours most weeks so my hubby is GREAT for wanting to help. So I posted this thread to see how other "inexperienced" household helpers got things done that they may not have been too sure how to do!! Its all about teamwork!!


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## lickcreek2 (Dec 15, 2009)

My DH is helpful in pointing out when the trash needs burnt, but cannot take it out with him on the way to the shop (where the burn barrel is!!) or that something is "filthy" and needs dusted/cleaned. He is very good at detecting "smells" (although he allows me to figure out on my own what he might be smelling, even when I can't smell anything). He ocassionally helps declutter, by dragging things out, opening boxes and sorting into piles that he says he will get back to. He is good at letting me know when the piles get too high, and even better at letting me know that I have moved something I should not have! And this is fair, I guess, since we both work the same hours 8-4 M-F, BUT I have a desk job, and get paid less, so there is no way I work as hard as he does during the day.

Sorry, I had to blow off some steam. It was a long weekend! But in all honesty, if it gets cleaned or put away inside our house, I am the one responsible.


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## Head Roller (Sep 24, 2010)

I prefer my husband to stay outside the house. LOL. We have plenty of stuff to tend to with mowing, raking, general repairs and additions, heavy-duty landscaping plus keeping his studio and our garage in order, keeping tools and vehicles in working order. We always have several large scale projects in the works.

I am super-picky about laundry and cooking - so he really knows better than to interfere there.hehehehe. He will always polish the wood floors for me and if we are doing the FULL house clean, he will helps with vacuuming walls, ceiling fans, corners etc....

I guess you could say that we have a pretty well-defined division of labor around here. hehehehe


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

DH will:
Make meals and clean up after. (Though we usually have it set up that I cook, he does dishes)
Vacuum
Pick up
Do laundry
Kid-related chores 
Makes beds
etc. etc.
Ya know, generic housework. There's nothing he's "above."

He also doesn't think of it as "helping out" since he has this idea that he lives in this house, too. 
I do most of the housework for the simple fact that I'm here more hours of the day than he is, but if he sees something that needs doing, he just does it. :shrug:


I _so_ wish I could find the photo I was hunting for. 
It's a Saturday morning, DH is dressed and ready for work, but he's making waffles for breakfast first. 
So he's standing at the stove in his apron, wearing his jeans tucked into his knee-high boots, his button-down shirt is untucked and his hat is on. 
He makes me think of Gus in _Lonesome Dove_, making biscuits... lol


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## JanS (Jul 28, 2002)

Laura Zone 5 said:


> Hmmmm
> 
> 
> There ain't no way I am asking that man to lift ONE finger in this house.
> Me and my daughters do all the cookin/cleanin/shopping/laundry there is to do!!


That's not really fair. Mothernature did say "helping around the house when we have busy work schedules." And it sounded like her husband WANTED to help. Wouldn't you pick up the snow shovel if your husband got extra busy at work?


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

And it's only 40+ hours... :shrug:
My DH _routinely_ works 60-70.


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## Granny Sue (Jan 12, 2009)

My husband stays home; I work outside the home. He fixes my breakfast, packs my lunch and gets my coffee ready every morning. I know, I'm spoiled. He washes most of the dishes, does some basic cleaning and will do more if I insist, washes and hangs out laundry, changes the sheets, sometimes cooks dinner, etc. He also does most of the outside work--firewood, building, bees, poultry, gardens, etc--except for the flowers and herbs which are mine to do, poor neglected things. I clean when I'm home which isn't as often as I'd like, do some of the cooking and most of it on weekends, take care of bills, phone calls, family communications, travel planning, budget, and all of the canning and food preservation. I also do most of the planning for our projects and most of the shopping, although he's doing better at that part thank goodness. I am at work or on the road 60 hours a week or more for my full-time job, and I travel as a professional storyteller pretty often from March through November, which takes up most of my annual leave time. All in all, our division of labor works out pretty well.


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## Ardie/WI (May 10, 2002)

Roger does anything that needs to be done around the house if it needs to be done.


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## majik (Feb 23, 2005)

What works for one family won't work for another. My husband stays home too and I work two jobs. He is much more concerned about cleanliness and tidiness that I am, so he chooses to clean - vacuming and bathroom cleaning mostly. Since we aren't the only people in the house, everyone is expected to take a turn at the dishes, bringing firewood in ,etc. Now, I do most of the cooking, because I really like doing it, and DH does alot of the "fixing" of what I break, but I also do most of the outside work with my daughter because that's where we want to be. DH will do anything electric or electronic or mechanical. We don't think of them as his or her jobs. We're all (all 4 of us) good at some stuff, not so good at others so we break jobs down along those lines. I also don't think of any of us as "helping" around the house (kinda like I never thought of it as babysitting when dad watched his own kids) - we all pitch in.


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## willow_girl (Dec 7, 2002)

My husband is OCD! He's even more of a neatnik than I am (and that's saying a mouthful). I never have to worry that I'll leave a neat house in the morning and come home to a messy one at night. Oh, and he does the grocery shopping, too! 

I really, really lurve my husband!


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## jad44 (Apr 10, 2008)

I hate to knock anyone - but when it comes to the house - I have no help; I do it all - but his extra recliner next to his is the throw all the newspapers collector area - and when they take a slide onto the livingroom floor is the only time he cleans! I refuse to pick up behind him unless I know we are getting company - I do believe men have no excuse why they can't pick up after themselves; the excuse "mom never had time to teach me" just never grew wings in my way of thinking - when you are nearly 70 years old, it is time to take responsibility for yourself! AMEN - end of rant! Bad topic here - but true none the same.


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