SAHD who doesn't do housework?

[bushymcbush]

My DH looks after our DD (3yo) full time and I work (stressful and tiring job) full time.

Now, I know his job is looking after DD but I know when I did that job, I looked after the house too. It wasn't perfect but I tried to keep on top of the basics.

A year into our arrangement and his levels of housework are at an all time low.

He does cook almost every evening, and usually makes attempts to keep the kitchen tidy (not clean), but that's it.

The washing is constantly spilling out of the basket or sitting in clean baskets un sorted.

The carpets and floors are filthy.

The bathroom is filthy.

The house smells.

I often get home from work to find lunch and / or breakfast things all over the table still, DD watching TV and the dog unwalked.

AIBU to expect more?

[Nanny0gg]

Actually I pay my CM to care for my children in a home environment. That includes her doing things like her cleaning and shopping, taking the car to the garage for an MOT, going to the post office to send a parcel, as well as play dates, school run, trip to the park, coffee with a friend and their mindees/children - you know, the stuff I do while with them if I am at home.

Threads like this make me realise there is a small but determined army of parents who see "parenting" as a 24/7 job which is all encompassing and involves total concentration on their child(ren). Being the object of so much attention must be pretty wearing for a child, I must say.
And do they go straight out and get a job when their children go to school? Do they consider themselves redundant?

[magicmummy1]

Whatever is involved in the "job description" of the SAHP, it needs to be agreed by both partners. The WOHP doesn't get to dictate everything but the SAHP cannot just do as they please either. If they can't agree on the roles, then I think they have to find an alternative arrangement.

[LikeACandleButNotQuite]

My DM is a childminder, and whilst caring for her charges she is able to do 'SAHP' type stuff - a load of washing, cooks tea for DF for when he returns from work (the kids get for their tea a child portion of what my DF gets).

She nips to the shops, post office, tidies round etc, whilst also managing to take the kids to the park, school pick ups/drop offs, etc etc.

How OPs DP can't manage keeping the house tidy and looking after a 3yo (who, lest we forget, is OUT of the house 2.5 days a week) is anyones guess.

[CheerfulYank]

When I was a childminder I did housework.

I also read stories, did art projects, circle time, played with the children, brought them to the park, etc, etc.

But if they were all sitting on the floor engrossed in toys, of course I took time to clean out the tub or whatever. Why wouldn't I?

[fedupofnamechanging]

I think that if you want a CM to spend all her time actively looking after your children, rather than taking some time to do her own thing, then you'd best get a nanny and pay the difference in rates. That, to me, is the real difference between the two. If you hire a CM, you are doing so in the knowledge that she has chosen that particular job because it fits in more with her life. A nanny fits in more with you.

And even a nanny is usually expected to do child related housework - sometimes children's laundry, certainly cooking for them and clearing up after them. So looking after dc to a 'professional' standard and doing a bit of housework are not mutually exclusive.

[justcait]

OP is this about priorities, rather than time? I mean, he obviously has time - that's not the issue. My DH and I are lucky - we have the same view on house tidiness and cleanliness (ie we would like it to be clean and tidy, and we prefer it that way, but neither of us are particularly good at achieving said state of sparkle, so when someone has a rush of blood to the head and does a deep clean of the kitchen or something the other one is v v v appreciative!)

... but not everyone has the same views on what's 'right' when it comes to houses. You have to start with the underlying reason for not cleaning, in my experience - ie what's stopping him from doing it? If he's anything like me, it's a combination of not remembering that it needs to be done / not really caring that much if it doesn't get done... It's not laziness, I work very hard at work (because I really care about being good at my job, vs not really caring about being good at housework) - it's a priority thing. Some people have other priorities, I don't think one or the other is better, it just is.

Hard to fix, but if your DH has the same cleaning problems as I do - things that work: I like being thanked for cleaning (and I always thank my DH when he cleans, since neither of us wants to do it), and it also helps when my DH remarks (nicely, not snarkily) that the house is a tip - and we both take full responsibility for it as a partnership in charge of our little messy world (although I do like to blame the dog, clearly he is running around the house at night making a mess ). I know some people have suggested lists, which do work for some people, but not for me at all. I've also realised that although I have a mental map of where everything in the house 'should' be (and invariably isn't), I rarely explain this to DH so I have to remind myself when he puts something in the 'wrong' place that he might just not know where it should go ...

[GhostShip]

I agree with what Proudnscary said on page 1

[MummytoKatie]

My general rule for my days off is that I try and have the house in better shape when dh gets home than when he left. So breakfast and lunch things gone, toys out away, paints cleared up plus something else.

Sometimes my something else is a decent clean, often it is just a load of washing.

It's harder since dd stopped sleeping during the day as I don't have that hour to play with.

I always have dinner ready for all of us as if I didn't our evening would fall apart.

[justcait]

I only checked the '17' not whether it was November!! Oopsy...

[specialsubject]

'He spends a lot of time on the computer and on his iPhone - games, facebook, twitter, sports pages, news ... '

he's not that busy, then, is he? Nor is your kid getting much fun.

'filthy' and 'smells' are beyond a relaxed attitude to housework. Time for some plain talking. And to rehome the dog.