to refuse to allocate any mental space to dh's ideas about what should go where in the fridge

[laughorcry]

dh seems to feel strongly about where things should go in the fridge (dairy up on the high shelves I think and meat towards the middle). he has explained why and it is something to do with relative temperatures.

we have 2 children under 2, and in my sleep deprived state it is frankly a struggle for me to restrict the fridge contents even to those things that should be there at all (since ds2's arrival I have put in a cup, a pen and some cutlery by mistake).

i think that it really doesn't matter where things go, and he keeps moving them (and then telling me he has moved them, and why).

who is BU?

If he moves them, do you have a hard time finding them?

Do you think he has actual valid reasons for his preferences?

Is he generally a giant PITA?

As long as his OCD fridge-rearranging habits aren't making your life harder, I'd try for a 'don't ask don't tell' policy about it. He can juggle the fridge contents all he likes, but as long as you're not getting any sleep, he should stop telling you about them.

He should feel free to rearrange the fridge but agree he shouldn't tell you about it, or tell you off for putting things back wrong.

Neither of you are unreasonable as such though - he's mildly obsessive and you are sleep-deprived.

Hello MrsB. I should start a thread about my black tie adventures. Is strapless the new black?

tell him if he shops, cooks, ie puts all food away and gets all food out, then fine go ahead and rearrange the fridge

if you do this then tell him to butt out

if he carries on being a pita go reorganise his sock drawer/ tool box/ dvds in the most bizarre way you can find based on some barking geek system you found on google

[waves to NQC]
Strapless has always been popular but isn't easy to carry off - too many people have succumbed to the bloody 'prom dress' trend and look bad in it. Spaghetti straps and a cowl neck for me.

Send him to me He is practising health and safety in his fridge, something my dh doesnt do and it drives me mad.

He puts uncooked meats high on the shelf and next to cooked meats and vegetables, arrgh!

I dont know how we havent all gone down with something or other.

how odd

I just shove stuff in where it fits

none of us have died yet

I Think your dh is rather odd.

I also think that if this is a 'foible' of his an he isn't one of those mad types a la julia roberts film (?) then perhaps you should send him to do the shopping regularly and then he can put it away.

As i detest food shopping this seems like a good idea to me

My DP is a very random man, he dumps stuff in inappropriate places all over the house and is continualy asking me if i have seen his glasses/wallet/mobile/keys etc etc

I like to put certain things in certain places in the fridge, partly becuase of the coldness factor and partly so i can see at a glance how many yoghurts or whatever i have. FWIW DP does most of the shopping and cooking but i do most of the dishwashing and tidying/cleaning in the kitchen.

I generally keep raw meat(never have much) and cheese in it's box on the bottom shelf. Some veg in the box but it never all fits. Bottles, cartons, eggs etc in the door, beer on the top shelf. For some reason in my fridge this is very cold and random things like lettuce have been known to freeze on that shelf.

I think he needs to get over it a bit TBH. But agree with others.

Your post made me smile. Sorry.

I once tried to impose a dairy-shelf in our fridge and I came to my senses when I realised it was unreasonable to be annoyed at my Dh for putting the cheese back on the wrong shelf.

So, I say your DH is the unreasonable one.

I used to work with a chef who did this regarding temperatures in different parts of his fridge, a bit ott for the home though.

As long as uncooked meat is separate from cooked meat no problems. Milk should really be kept inside the fridge, not the door as the door isn't as cold as the rest of the fridge for obvious reasons.

He is BU. I would LOVE to have a hubby who took an interest in household matters. But where does it stop? If he's taking an interest in the contents of the fridge, is his next trick going to be telling you what to do with it? 'Sorry dear but I think you've sliced the cucumber in my sandwiches too thickly'. PITA. Slap.

Or is he going to insist that you iron his pants and pair up his socks and put them away neatly in a specially sectioned off compartment in his knicker drawer?

Keep some trainers by the front door, I would!

Well I put raw meat at the bottom and veg in veg drawer but otherwise anything goes. If he has the time to be such an old woman about the fridge, then let him get on with it, but when you are feeling a little less sleep deprived tell him politely not to bother you with his deailing of where you are short of his high standards .

Sleep deprivation...total killer. I sometimes wonder how we went on to have 4 children. I had 2 under 2 at one stage also. Final one is 3yo now and still sometimes wakes at night or really early grrr.

Hmm - a mixed bag. Interesting, thank you.

To be fair to him he does at least his fair share of putting shopping away. The problem comes when I have taken something out to make a meal and then put it away in 'the wrong place'.

Am relieved that some of you agree with him in a way as it makes it seem less odd to me.

And I would say that there is pretty much no chance at all of him starting to take an interest in putting the washing away so I should be safe there. This fridge business seems to be the only manifestation of a desire for order in the house (apart from the way that the books are arranged on the bookcases now I come to think about it).

So perhaps the grown up thing to do is to request that he doesn't make any mention of fridge placement until ds2 is sleeping through.

(on the basis of slimmerjim's experience that should buy me nearly three years of domestic harmony).

three years?
try nine...

nine.....

tell a sleep deprived lady it isn't so.

hehehe

you might get lucky, you never know...

I agree with MrsBadger's analysis.

Don't let it turn into a big source of contention between you - life's too short and marriage too long.

actually he does have some sort of point - uncooked meat should go at the bottom (to stop anything 'dripping' down) and vegetables ideally should be at the top (try telling that to the fridge manufacturers LOL)

But at the end of the day tell him to stop being so awkward LOL.

fanny if I put veg at the top of my fridge they freeze.

it's basic food hygiene. meat on the bottom shelf, don't put cooked food in until its cold, empty leftover canned stuff into plastic bowl and cover - in fact all fridge food not in sealed packet should be wrapped.. and so on and so forth.

i get into trouble LOADS for sticking half a can of beans/peas/cat food in the fridge!

OOh, that would drive me madder than I already am. Tell him you're not interested and you're not playing.
Fridges are for ladies