STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

small fry · Chanel

MOM ON STRIKE

KaffeeKlatsch · Marc Jacobs

Hmmm... I probably would have gone another route. But I hope this works for you. I suggest sitting down and discussing with him exactly what it is that you do around the home, how much time it takes you, what else you are missing out on, and how his lack of help makes you feel toward him. Perhaps when he recognizes that he has responsibility toward keeping up his domain, he will feel more inclined to help out.

bex · Chanel

while i got a chuckle out of what you did- i know my man would be super peeved if i did something like that!

i suggest talking to him as leah_leanna did. sometimes it is best to just ask him to do certain things. give him chores to do or create a "honey-do" list for him. when i go away for a week for work, i always ask my man to clean certain areas (i.e. the bathroom and bedroom) and he does. maybe work on "splitting" up the list so that you each have your own areas to take care of.

good luck!

small fry · Chanel

hey girls well i tried that believe it or nor more than once, so i tried this! my husband was not mad he thought it was a good attention getter and said he would wok on it better!! thanks for listening!!

ILoveChoo · Hermes

I agree with the other girls. I had the same problem and went on strike myself but you know what? they house just got SO disguesting (because he still didn't do anything!) that i went crazy and had to take a day off work to deep clean.

I sat him down and explained to him (like I had done so many times before) how much work keeping the house together really is- and together we made up a chore list. Like, I load the dishwasher at night and run it and he empties it in the morning. Once a week he deep cleans the kitchen and I do the bathroom. Having it split up into specific responsibilities really helped a TON because it kept him focused on what he needed to do and wasn't so overwhelming.

lynnie · Chanel

this made me laugh because my mom always does things like that. I guess after 25 years of desperation, you take extreme measures.

small fry · Chanel

just wanted to add, i just want him to pickup after hisself, he is home more than iam and he will sit on that chair and watch tv.. leave his dishes on the table, and trash on table- and the sink and trash can are only a few steps away... if things are picked up that would be a great help!!

Elle · Hermes

Haha! I've done this before too, though I didn't announce it I just stopped picking up all of his crap! I do most of the housework because A) I don't have a job right now, and B) I like things done a certain way and he messes it up!

FH still leaves his socks on the floor in the living room and his clothes on the chest at the foot of the bed. It's taken him a few weeks to figure it out, but he finally did realize that if his clothes aren't in the hamper, I WILL NOT WASH THEM ! Oh, the horror!

After the shock of the strike has worn off, maybe you could discuss a fair distribution of duties that you can both feel okay about? When FH and I were both working, I did the laundry and he did the dishes and we both did the weekly cleaning (bathroom, vacuum, mop, etc) on a weekend morning. The condition was though that neither of us could abuse the other, so no crusty dishes in the sink for him to scrub and no clothes randomly strewn about for me to chase after. I swear it works alot better when each person knows exactly what is expected of them. Then there's no excuses when it doesn't get done !

Good luck!

atlgirl · Gucci

he finally did realize that if his clothes aren't in the hamper, I WILL NOT WASH THEM

My husband is pretty good about doing his "chores", but we did have this little laundry issue too. It only took a couple of weeks of him not having the clean clothes he wanted, for him to learn that every Monday morning, they need to go in the hamper. (Monday is laundry day at our house). *s*

blink · Coach

yes, you should try the strike, but be prepared for possible disappointment. he may care less if you keep the house clean or not, honestly. so the clutter will simply pile up and while he will notice, it may or may not make him appreciate how clean the house was before. he might be thinking, "cool, she relaxed about the cleaning stuff." unfortunately, you can't make someone care about cleanliness as much as you do. hopefully, though, your husband does care and it will make him realize how much effort it takes to keep a home clean.

Elle · Hermes

atlgirl wrote:

It only took a couple of weeks of him not having the clean clothes he wanted, for him to learn that every Monday morning, they need to go in the hamper. (Monday is laundry day at our house). *s*

Hehe,

- FH has noticed on a couple Sunday nights that something wasn't clean that he needed for Monday. Those times he scrambles around and has to do a whole wash/dry cycle for one shirt! Other times he hasn't noticed until getting dressed on Monday - let's just say there has been more than one day he's gone to work in a dirty shirt

!