The Division of Labor

Usually the division of labor works fairly well at our house. There are certain things that I do well or that I enjoy doing, and there are certain things I despise. Luckily for me, my husband is pretty laid back about that kind of stuff and is fine with me handing off the items I despise. Except for cleaning bathrooms, but that’s why we have a cleaning lady (ok, technically there are three of them, but you know what I mean).

I do all the cooking, with rare exceptions. I also do all the baking, arrange for all the birthdays (attending and giving), do the majority of the shopping, I straighten, I’ll fill and empty the dishwasher, etc.

My husband gets the joy of giving the kids their baths. Mister Man is finally pretty good about it, but Little Miss screams bloody murder (ok, actually she cries for Mommy) the second you tell her there’s a hair wash coming. His job.

He also gets to do most of the usual guy type things like mowing the lawn – hey, his first job was for parks and recreation down in southern Illinois, so he knows how to do it (or so he claims). Yup, garbage is his task, too. Somehow, vacuuming falls into that category, now that I think about it.

He’s also in charge of washing dishes, as many of mine can’t go in the dishwasher (read: I don’t let them go in the dishwasher even though some of them maybe possibly could). The whole kitchen sink grosses me out for whatever reason. If dishes go into the sink that are supposed to go into the dishwasher, I have to wait until he puts them in there because I can’t stand to touch them. Yes, I know I have issues.

Needless to say, I tend to avoid the sink area except when places knives and cutting boards into it or dishes next to it or washing fruit or veggies. I’ve mentioned to him before that there should be two sponges: one sponge washes dishes and the other sponge cleans counters. I gave up on that one after a couple years when he just didn’t get it. Instead, we have one sponge, and my job is to clean the counters with wipes. Good compromise, no?

However, he never remembers to dishwasher or microwave the sponge to keep it clean every few days (and since I rarely look at it, I only occasionally do it myself). I’m also of the belief that a sponge is good for only so long. He apparently disagrees. This is what I found today when I went to wash some strawberries and looked up.

That lasted all of 45 seconds, which was the amount of time it took me to find the magnet, unlock the cabinet and root around for a new sponge. Ta da!

Unfortunately, his blindness towards things of this nature don’t end here. We had some friends over a couple of weeks ago for dinner, and they (meaning everyone but me) wanted coffee. Since I don’t drink coffee ever, I honestly don’t know how to work our coffee maker. Granted, I know coffee grounds go in one part and water in another and you press a button and it starts brewing, but the ratios? Who knows!

Since my husband was putting the kids to bed at the time, two of my friends volunteered to make the coffee while I got dessert out of the oven (mmmm, molten chocolate cakes!).

Friend 1: Ummm, when was the last time you changed this?
Me: Changed what? You know I know nothing about this coffee machine, right? That's why you guys are making coffee instead of me, after all.
Friend 2: The filter thing is pretty crusty.
Me: Oh. I have no idea; that’s hubby’s job. My guess is never though.
Friend 1: I don’t think we should make coffee with this. Do you have any vinegar?
Me: But of course (pulling it from the cabinet) I do. Do you think you can clean it?
Friend 1: I think it’ll help, but not in time for our coffee tonight. We’ll just make it without this filter. I’m assuming you don’t have a spare one, right?
Me: Uhhhh…

Let’s just say that exchange was a bit embarrassing. Granted, I’ve never looked inside the coffee maker before, but they’re right: it was gross! We put vinegar into a little bowl and got most of the white crusty off the filter. And we used a paper towel soaked in vinegar to clean off the inside of the coffee maker, too. Fortunately, the coffee tasted fine.

Yet here we are three weeks later, and I can see that the scale is reforming. Maybe I’ll give hubby a pass because he’s generally making and drinking coffee before 6am. Except for every Saturday and Sunday when it’s more like 9. Anyone know how to figure out what kind of new filter I need so I can have them on hand for company? Obviously I can’t trust hubby with changing them out – and you wonder why I don’t like coffee!