Division of Labour
Before Rod and I got married, we had the traditional 'marriage counselling' precided over by the pastor who would marry us, Pastor Mel Stephen. During one of our sessions, Mel gave us each the same 100 question quiz. We were to take it away and answer it separately, not sharing answers, and bring it back for him to have a look.
The quiz asked such questions as . . . "who do you expect to change the oil in the car? who will do the banking in your family? who will do the grocery shopping?" It also went into hard core issues as well, "if your kid is caught smoking dope, what's the punishment?" (okay, so that wasn't one of the questions, but you get the idea).
Amazingly - Rod and I still pride ourselves on this one - we answered 99 out of 100 questions the same! We were so meant for each other!
One of the compromises we made at this early stage in the relationship was that I was happy to do the laundry in exchange for Rod taking care of the finances. (Rod acts as if this is a sacrifice, but there is NO WAY he would trust me with the finances. Ahuh.)
However, in 15 years of marriage (going on 16), he always seems to find a way to criticise my work (I'm workin' hard here!) . . . This is never in an aggressive manner. Usually simply short comments under his breath, "sure is a big pile of laundry out here," "I don't seem to have any clean, brown socks," "is that basket of clean clothes going to sit there for another week?"
And, recently, he's been spoiled by his Mother who was visiting us for seven weeks. She was amazing while she was here - she did all our laundry the whole time, which was such a huge help! She also has an interesting habit I have never known (sorry to my mom!) - she actually irons everything fresh out of the drier. This means doing the laundry is an all-day affair. I walked into the room once as she was ironing Rod's workout t-shirt. I told her she was crazy. She said, "no, this is just what I do!"
You have to understand, I don't iron Rod's clothes - - I pay the cleaning lady to iron Rod's clothes. I have never ironed Rod's clothes. . . . . Why? Well, you have to understand the birth of our relationship . . . . Rod and I were friends before we were boyfriend/girlfriend. This was unlike any other traditional boyfriend/girlfriend relationship I had ever had. Due to this unusual 'love situation,' I thought from the beginning, "he's got two hands, he can iron." This attitude also led to my telling Rod, "you've got two hands, you can also clean the toilet as often as I do." Just because I have female body parts does not make me more qualified for these jobs!
So, the niggle Rod has at the moment is that I don't empty the laundry baskets. I'm basically treating them as two more drawers! Why not? You can actually see what you need much more clearly than if they are stuffed in a drawer.... And, when the basket is empty, it's a friendly, little reminder you probably need to do more laundry! (Oh, if my mother-in-law is reading this she is probably having a fit!)
The challenge coming up in the next two months . . .. my cleaning lady is heavy with child and due in July. Who will be ironing? I predict we have the early-morning conversation that happens every so often now (you know the one, girls) . . . "Does this shirt look wrinkly?" "It's kind of wrinkly." "I don't have the time to iron. What if I wear a sweater or jacket over it." "That will work. Will you get too warm and have to take it off?" "I'll suffer through...."
The only saving grace is we are going home to America in July. Maybe Rod could take some clothes home for him mom to iron while we're there?? hmmm......
So, as I sit here tonight, I have just folded two huge laundry baskets full of clothes - - - while Rod pays the bills and balances the cheque book (checkbook, Americans). Anybody want to place bets how long it'll take to empty the baskets??
Heather
Curiously enough, as I said, Rod and I answered 99 out of 100 questions the same. I
The quiz asked such questions as . . . "who do you expect to change the oil in the car? who will do the banking in your family? who will do the grocery shopping?" It also went into hard core issues as well, "if your kid is caught smoking dope, what's the punishment?" (okay, so that wasn't one of the questions, but you get the idea).
Amazingly - Rod and I still pride ourselves on this one - we answered 99 out of 100 questions the same! We were so meant for each other!
One of the compromises we made at this early stage in the relationship was that I was happy to do the laundry in exchange for Rod taking care of the finances. (Rod acts as if this is a sacrifice, but there is NO WAY he would trust me with the finances. Ahuh.)
However, in 15 years of marriage (going on 16), he always seems to find a way to criticise my work (I'm workin' hard here!) . . . This is never in an aggressive manner. Usually simply short comments under his breath, "sure is a big pile of laundry out here," "I don't seem to have any clean, brown socks," "is that basket of clean clothes going to sit there for another week?"
And, recently, he's been spoiled by his Mother who was visiting us for seven weeks. She was amazing while she was here - she did all our laundry the whole time, which was such a huge help! She also has an interesting habit I have never known (sorry to my mom!) - she actually irons everything fresh out of the drier. This means doing the laundry is an all-day affair. I walked into the room once as she was ironing Rod's workout t-shirt. I told her she was crazy. She said, "no, this is just what I do!"
You have to understand, I don't iron Rod's clothes - - I pay the cleaning lady to iron Rod's clothes. I have never ironed Rod's clothes. . . . . Why? Well, you have to understand the birth of our relationship . . . . Rod and I were friends before we were boyfriend/girlfriend. This was unlike any other traditional boyfriend/girlfriend relationship I had ever had. Due to this unusual 'love situation,' I thought from the beginning, "he's got two hands, he can iron." This attitude also led to my telling Rod, "you've got two hands, you can also clean the toilet as often as I do." Just because I have female body parts does not make me more qualified for these jobs!
So, the niggle Rod has at the moment is that I don't empty the laundry baskets. I'm basically treating them as two more drawers! Why not? You can actually see what you need much more clearly than if they are stuffed in a drawer.... And, when the basket is empty, it's a friendly, little reminder you probably need to do more laundry! (Oh, if my mother-in-law is reading this she is probably having a fit!)
The challenge coming up in the next two months . . .. my cleaning lady is heavy with child and due in July. Who will be ironing? I predict we have the early-morning conversation that happens every so often now (you know the one, girls) . . . "Does this shirt look wrinkly?" "It's kind of wrinkly." "I don't have the time to iron. What if I wear a sweater or jacket over it." "That will work. Will you get too warm and have to take it off?" "I'll suffer through...."
The only saving grace is we are going home to America in July. Maybe Rod could take some clothes home for him mom to iron while we're there?? hmmm......
So, as I sit here tonight, I have just folded two huge laundry baskets full of clothes - - - while Rod pays the bills and balances the cheque book (checkbook, Americans). Anybody want to place bets how long it'll take to empty the baskets??
Heather
Curiously enough, as I said, Rod and I answered 99 out of 100 questions the same. I
Comments