Panto in an hour, guess what my husband is doing ?

DH is exactly the same. We argued on the day before Christmas Eve as he wanted to mow the (vast) lawn when there was a million other things that actually needed to be done ahead of hosting guests the following day.

I'm from Northern Ireland and I don't think we would ever naturally say 'it needs doing'. For me it is always 'it needs done'. I think it makes sense because the thing that's needed is is the completed action, when the task will be 'done'.

@ItsCalledAConversation Martell Maxwell on Homes under the Hammer says it a lot. I presume it's a Scottish thing, I've got to quite like it now.

I am so glad my DH doesn’t have the bloke priorities.

OP I hope you got to the Pantomime and enjoyed it.

He doesn't want to go.
Sad that some adults still cannot make/express their choices.
What is the point of "Panto"?
😕

I was waiting by the door recently because we had forgot something and I needed him to help. Husband started faffing with his thirsty chives plant.

I often find men will do weird things like use a leaf blower in the garden, tidy the shed or arrange cds into order when proper housework is on the go. I'm assuming it's avoidance/look busy type stuff.

Let him get on with it but also tell him it doesn't get him out of the panto either.

🤣🤣🤣

Not so funny for you OP but this thread has made me laugh. I also had a DF similar to PP’s. He discovered on my wedding day a small pane of glass in the front door was cracked. He popped to the hardware shop got the replacement glass pane cut to size, bought putty and replaced the broken pane before we set off for my wedding. I remember him waiting for his football pools coupon to be collected before we could set off to visit my DM in hospital after she had had an operation.

No not just your DH. We moved house in stressful circumstances- DD was a few days old, we had to put everything in storage for a 3 months and then there were issues with moving in dates and delivery of our stuff. On the day we finally moved in my parents were frantically helping me to unpack baby and kitchen essentials while my DH spent a leisurely morning putting together a wooden high chair for a baby who was still several months off either sitting up or eating solids. Apparently it made sense to get rid of the box on that day.

On another occasion I asked him to do a quick vacuum about an hour before visitors arrived and half an hour later discovered he had taken all the sofa cushions off and moved all the furniture-to do a deep clean.

He's hoping to give himself an injury that will require hospital treatment and bed rest so he can avoid the panto.

I am from Yorkshire and while I do see if here (never heard it, only seems to be written down) its quite a recent thing and mostly on FB adverts or similar
Like using "his" instead of "he's"

It's bothers me when I see this. It's a (relatively) recent development I think. "Needs gone " on adverts too. Argh

I think it’s regional. I know a chap who also skips it his from up north.

I hate pantos i would do anything to get out from going or even doing xmas.
Now im an adult i dont do any thank god.
One year i was about 13 i jumped in a lake to try and get a cold so i could me in bed over xmas it didnt work i never got sick.
When i was 26 i went to thailand with my son last minute holiday to avoid all the faffing.
My son is like me and many others he just does not like it.
I dont do any of it now and love it.

Why do people miss “to be” out of phrases like “it needs done” or “it needs washed”?

”It needs doing” (present tense) makes sense, but not “it needs done”??

I’ve noticed this a lot on here recently.

It’s avoidance jobs. They agree to keep the house happy then when the time comes comes panic internally and rather than voice this and cause upset they figure by being “helpful” fixing the patio/cleaning the car/tidying the airing cupboard they now have a reason they cannot possibly but that you also won’t be mad because it’s because they are being ever so helpful doing that job you’ve probably mentioned a few times even in passing.

We’d be leaving in 10 minutes, plenty of warning and my db would jump in the shower. Drove me nuts.

I would say that he is saving you a job, OP! Can you ask him to dig a nice big hole while he's at it? About 6ft long?

Oh no he isn't!

Why do men have to sabotage their partner’s work/efforts/plans?

Still, with the patio’s slabs up it’ll make it far easier to bury him underneath it.

You are missing a trick here @haretodaygonelater
Call out 'dh is going to the panto!' and wait to see if he calls back 'Oh no he isn't'
Leave without him.

He's planning to either:

• dig himself a quiet resting place that's better than panto

• leave a dug-up patio to annoy you for the next 8 months

Df was known for that sort of thing:

My favourite was as dm went to the car to meet her friend who was staying for a week, hadn't stayed due to ill health for several years. "Stop. You can't possibly have a visitor when the airing cupboard is untidy". Dm pointed out that probably her friend would far rather be met, than wait on a windy station in sub-zero temperatures so she could arrive to a tidy airing cupboard she'd never have to look inside.

I remember dm driving the car still covered in soap suds because he'd decided to clean it 5 minutes before we were due to leave. He was trying to hose it down with water as we left.

Then there was the time we were due to leave to go on holiday and he started pruning the (20m long, 3m high) hedge....

Although I remember going to the panto with him as a child, and he settled down in his seat with a small torch and economics book to read too. So leaving him behind to do the patio would probably have been a good thing.

Might solve the problem if OP creeps up and yells "He's behind you!" at the DH!

Ooft, if I was expected to go to a panto, I’d be digging up the patio too, lol.