House Trained

by Kyla on March 4, 2013 · 26 comments

I must confess… I don’t clean. My hatred of household chores is kept to an absolute minimum because I do the absolute minimum. I know that sounds lazy but when TheGamer and I first moved in together his lack of skills in the kitchen made it obvious that he’d never lived out of home before. He tried, bless him, he tried (or at least made out that he was trying – all those ruined dishes could have been on purpose) but coming home one night to a curdled pasta dish for my birthday was the last straw and I saw an opportunity to strike a *ahem* mutually beneficial deal.

I cook, he cleans.

A simple division of chores that meant he got out of cooking and I got out of everything else. We struck that deal eight years ago and apart from the bathrooms which I prefer to clean (I know, I’m weird), the shared load of the clothes washing which never seems to get put away and any last minute cleaning frenzies for unannounced visitors we’ve stuck to it ever since.

I don’t iron, I go out of my way to buy wrinkle-free clothes and recently bought a hand-held clothes steamer so hubby can take care of his work shirts easily and without too much complaint. Doing the dishes, despite the fact that we have a dishwasher is a chore I can’t stand – loading the dishwasher is ok but unloading it? Yuck, I’ll avoid that thanks. I don’t mind mopping, there’s something soothing about the rhythmic figure 8 motion but I hate to vacuum and the only feather duster I have is for role play.

cleaning

I’ll admit that there are times where I hate the thought of having to cook yet again but that’s what purse-cooking (takeaway) is for and it’s oh so worth it to have to avoid regular tasks like loading and unloading the dishwasher, dusting, vacuuming, taking the bin out and all those other things my hubby does around the home to keep it looking… well, let’s just called it lived in; spotlessly clean rarely happens in our house.

Share and Enjoy

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Email
  • RSS
  • Add to favorites

{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }

Lisa March 4, 2013 at 12:34 pm

I think this linkup makes everyone realize that housework is not on our highest priority list!
Lisa recently posted..I must confess & Listmania linkupMy Profile

Reply

Kyla March 7, 2013 at 4:07 pm

If only it would clean itself, right?

Reply

Emily @ Have a laugh on me March 4, 2013 at 2:22 pm

I love that word purse-cooking :) I detest ALL household chores, shits me, and to think some women love it, totally can’t relate. I have to cook and clean, which shits me and then when the Husband does get asked to do the dishes he puts them all in our shitty dishwasher that doesn’t dry things and I HATE unloading dishwasher at the best of times. Great post :) x
Emily @ Have a laugh on me recently posted..I want to learn to fly a helicopter, see the northern lights and be more patientMy Profile

Reply

Kyla March 7, 2013 at 4:14 pm

I like to cook, liked it more when I didn’t have to do it every damn day though! Our dishwasher doesn’t dry properly either – I think that’s just dishwashers in general, stupid things should open themselves just an inch at the end of the cycle so we don’t have to go to wet dishes.

Reply

Emily @ Have a laugh on me March 9, 2013 at 7:04 pm

Shit, glad you told me, I just always thought it was because we have the cheapest one out there!!!
Emily @ Have a laugh on me recently posted..Why you should give blood and not chocolate this EasterMy Profile

Reply

Ness March 4, 2013 at 2:36 pm

GENIUS!! You cook, he cleans. I could manage to microwave a meal or order take-away while my husband does absolutely everything else. Ahem.

Feather dusters for role playing? Hmm, maybe they are useful after all. REOOWW..lol
Ness recently posted..About A Boy, Or Boys, ActuallyMy Profile

Reply

Kyla March 7, 2013 at 4:26 pm

Yeah, I’m pretty proud of that one, I have to admit :)

Reply

Aroha @ Colours of Sunset March 4, 2013 at 4:20 pm

I hate most household chores, especially hanging/folding/putting away laundry. I hate cleaning bathrooms, sweeping/mopping floors and making beds. But I do it all because the only thing I hate more is a messy house! I wish my husband cleaned so we could strike up a deal like that. He’ll cook. He’ll do dishes, he’ll even wash/hang laundry (but never seems to fold it) but he doesn’t clean/tidy. Ahh well. If only we were all aristocrats who had 30 servants working for us a la Downton Abbey!
Aroha @ Colours of Sunset recently posted..I’d Like To Learn How To Not Do Household ChoresMy Profile

Reply

Kyla March 7, 2013 at 4:31 pm

When I was a kid we had a cleaner and mum used to make us clean the house before the cleaner came. The idea of having servants sounds awesome but I’m not sure I’d trust anyone with the inside of our lives like that!

Reply

Janet March 4, 2013 at 5:12 pm

I like that division of labour! I’ll see if I can get hubster to agree to it ;-)
Janet recently posted..Lessons from HollywoodMy Profile

Reply

Kyla March 7, 2013 at 4:35 pm

I hope he agrees :D

Reply

Kirsty @ My Home Truths March 4, 2013 at 8:06 pm

That division of labour is pretty neat – except I’d have to try to bargain the cooking part out as well! Somehow I don’t like my chances… Thanks so much for linking up this week Kyla!
Kirsty @ My Home Truths recently posted..I Must Confess…My Most Hated Household ChoresMy Profile

Reply

Kyla March 7, 2013 at 4:39 pm

If you do get him to agree to do all the work you’ll have to share your secret, you could make millions.

Reply

Rhianna March 5, 2013 at 12:58 am

I do love how so many people have shared how lived in their house is. My house is incredibly lived in. There are thousands of other things I would rather be doing. I am glad that Mr Awesome picks up some of my slack bless him!
Rhianna recently posted..I must confess I failed miserablyMy Profile

Reply

Kyla March 7, 2013 at 4:55 pm

Oh I agree, on the list of things I want to do or should be doing, housework is so far down it’s destined to never reach the top.

Reply

katery March 5, 2013 at 7:01 am

neither my husband or i are very clean people, we have a messy house :) i mean, we DO try and keep it “clean” but there is quite a bit of clutter. oh well, we’re happy.

Reply

Kyla March 7, 2013 at 4:59 pm

it’s better to be happy than tidy. Our house is for the most part clean but we downsized from a 3 bedroom + dining room house place to a 2 bedroom open planned unit – there’s simply not enough room for all our stuff so clutter totally rules here

Reply

Declutterbug March 8, 2013 at 11:34 am

That seems like a much fairer division of labour than what we have. He “just doesn’t see the dirt” I am considering printing an overlay to stick on his glasses of piles of dirt, to see if that helps
Declutterbug recently posted..The art of hard wasteMy Profile

Reply

Kyla March 10, 2013 at 11:12 pm

Hubby is a bit like that around the shower (which is why I prefer to clean them) :)

Reply

Nikki@WonderfullyWomen March 8, 2013 at 2:12 pm

No deals like that around this house unfortunately. As a single mum I have to do the lot, and being a neat freak can make it a bit stressful at times, but I am getting better at looking the other way and eventually I turn into Hurricane Nikki and everything gets done. :) #fybf
Nikki@WonderfullyWomen recently posted..How To Unlock Your Child’s Super Powers – My Book, A Giveaway And An Affiliate Link.My Profile

Reply

Kyla March 10, 2013 at 11:13 pm

Oh I have huge, huge respect for the single mums or dads out there who have to do it all without many breaks.

Reply

Mums Take Five March 8, 2013 at 7:32 pm

what a great deal! unfortunately the way my hubby cleans its better off staying the dirty that it is rather than making it worse. that could also be part of his plan so i dont ask him again. half your luck! FYBFx
Mums Take Five recently posted..Chicken, Mushroom and Cashew RisottoMy Profile

Reply

Kyla March 10, 2013 at 11:16 pm

oh my hubby is totally anal re -tentative – he does a better job than I probably would. I totally think the food thing was his plan to get out of the cooking though.

Reply

Yvette @ Little Bento Blog March 8, 2013 at 8:32 pm

I am SOOOO Bad at cleaning.. and now even worse that I am a WAHM not just a SAHM.. its crazy!!! Hubby luckily likes doing the washing up :) I am sure this will not last long though!!

#FYBF visit :)
Yvette @ Little Bento Blog recently posted..Cold Pasta Salad for KidsMy Profile

Reply

Kyla March 10, 2013 at 11:18 pm

I hope it does for you!

Reply

Rachel from Redcliffe Style March 18, 2013 at 4:43 pm

I’m not a fan of cleaning but realised it was way more important to me than to my husband to have a clean house. I use to have a cleaner but now do it myself. I refuse to iron though. My husband does all his own washing and ironing. I’m happy with that. Rachel x
Rachel from Redcliffe Style recently posted..“Hey….you”My Profile

Reply

Leave a Comment

CommentLuv badge

Previous post:

Next post: