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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think the working parent should also contribute to housework

119 replies

Bowejangles · 24/08/2018 14:45

Just that really.

Young family of three, father works full time and mum looks after baby full time.

Father does zero housework whatsoever because he works, mum doesn't therefore thinks she can surely do it herself.

If she doesn't then it doesn't get done

What do you think?

OP posts:
Racecardriver · 24/08/2018 15:35

The mother is working. She is taking care of the child. If the child were in nursery or school for part of the time then that would be different.

DieAntword · 24/08/2018 15:39

I see it as my responsibility but my husband helps out especially if I’m tired or stressed out and especially on weekends.

We’ve discussed getting a cleaner but for now we’ve decided we have other financial priorities.

Bluelady · 24/08/2018 15:41

I suspect I've made a rod for my own back. I don't work and do the lot. And I can't see that changing when he retires next year somehow.

Nomad86 · 24/08/2018 15:49

I'm a sahm with 2 DC. I do what housework I can in the day. Anything else is split evenly, including putting the kids to bed, seeing to them in the night. Why should one person get to finish at 5pm and the other work 24/7? That said, it would be different if both DC were at school.

LeftRightCentre · 24/08/2018 16:00

Of course the working parent should. FFS. Did they have a full-time maid when they were working FT but had no kids/were single? I'm with YeTalk, I couldn't respect a partner who saw me as a glorified domestic appliance and love is respect. Also couldn't treat my spouse like that. We are a team.

LeftRightCentre · 24/08/2018 16:03

I suspect I've made a rod for my own back. I don't work and do the lot. And I can't see that changing when he retires next year somehow.

Of course you can, just tell him that you won't and don't. My mother did the lot. My dad retired, and she no longer does his washing or ironing or picks up his stuff off the floor. He doesn't do it and it doesn't get done.

Bluelady · 24/08/2018 16:07

If I didn't tidy up after him we'd live in a pig stye, I'm not prepared to do that or to live in a filthy house.

QuizzlyBear · 24/08/2018 16:16

I write at home while the kids are at school (currently not bringing in money!) while DH works long hours earning a high salary which supports us all.

Yes, I do the lions share of the housework, 100% of looking after the kids, the house and the dog during the week, but if I insisted that he do 50% then he wouldn't be able to focus on his work and in-depth, demanding contracts which enables us to live as we do.

So it works for us, for now. Mind you, he was off for a month over the summer and it seemed to come as a shock to him that I expected him to pull his weight!

sexnotgender · 24/08/2018 16:21

I think depending on age of children SAHP should do the majority but definitely not all! And as for waking him up for work... is he 5? These men who are unable to function as normal members of society are so unattractive!

SummerHoliday79 · 24/08/2018 16:21

Well it depends, what works for one family won't for another.

I would hope (but sadly don't think it is actually the norm) that the DP at the very least tidies up after himself. So, puts laundry in the right spot/basket. Takes his own plates and clears/places into sink/dishwasher. Doesn't leave clothes everywhere or mess etc.

Because there is quite a difference between the SAHM doing a washload, washing dishes etc and actually just being a skivvy to a bone idle arse.

BasicUsername · 24/08/2018 16:25

If they have discussions about it, and he agrees to do more but then drops it after one day, I'd suggest that they discuss it again, agree on specific tasks that he has to do, how often etc, and put it in writing.

Make sure the tasks are things that she could just leave if they don't get done by him. She needs to refer him to their written agreement when he starts slacking.

She shouldn't have to do this, because he is a grown man and should be pulling his weight without a chore list. However, that's the only possible solution that I can see for this situation.

Nanny0gg · 24/08/2018 16:26

If he works 8-7 or whatever (inc commute) then so does she.

Everything else is shared.

timeisnotaline · 24/08/2018 16:31

She could not wash his clothes ? The day my dh getting to work depends on my waking him is the day he doesn’t get to work. If he thinks working is all he contributes and he can’t even do that on his own stop enabling it and see if he loses his job. (I have a job. I’d rather my dp lost his if he could only manage it with me waking him, and I’d kick him out and get by on my own. Illness aside as the reason for his issues)

onlyk · 24/08/2018 16:33

By the sound of your post she’s not expecting 50/50 just a bit more help.

So I suggest she stops supporting him as he doesn’t support her.

Examples would be stop washing, drying and ironing his clothes, don’t cook for him (I.e. eat with kids before he’s home) and don’t do anything that’s just for him (I.e pick up dry cleaning, buying his favourite food, buying gifts for his family etc).

This would lighten her load a bit and might make him realise what she does for him.

Also on Saturday I’d wake him up by saying he’s in charge for the day and I’m off for a day out with the girls.

grasspigeons · 24/08/2018 16:39

I think paid employees get annual leave, weekends and sick leave so sah parents should expect a bit of help despite doing the bulk of it.
I also think that part of being human is doing things like putting your own washing actually in the basket not just near it, popping a plate in the dishwasher, not leaving dirty cups all round the house, rinsing the bath after use etc. So often I see having a person at home, who would expect to do cleaning, become some sort of personal picker upper and the other person lose a bit of the decency of wiping up their own pee if it misses.

CocoCharlie83 · 24/08/2018 16:45

Housework should be shared. How much is shared could depend on personal circumstances and age of child.

If SAHM had lots of free time during the day but didn't do any housework and expected partner to do half when they get home it wouldn't be fair. But if SAHM had no time during the day to do housework during the day until partner came in then it would be fair to be split 50-50

Graphista · 24/08/2018 16:46

The usual rebuttal to this is "traditional set up" but as I've said recently on a few threads (it followed a similar conversation with mum) in "traditional" or as per mn speak "1950's" marriages the men DIDN'T do nothing! They did what were perceived to be the "men's jobs" -

managing the household admin and finances - all banking and bill paying inc making sure they were getting the best deal (which was more time consuming pre-Internet), making sure all insurances were paid and up to date.

putting bins out

house, car and garden maintenance - all the DIY jobs, from changing lightbulbs & fuses to building furniture from scratch, fitting new appliances, fixing appliances, growing veggies or properly maintaining a lawn and borders (not just occasional mowing in the summer), regular maintenance of house eg cleaning windows, guttering, redecorating regularly inc outside paintwork and plastering. Regular checks on car - tyres, oil changes, filters, battery maintenance, even keeping it fuelled would have been seen as the husband's job.

Caring for pets - walking the dog used to be seen as man's job especially late at night.

Back when people didn't really pay for others to do suck jobs there was a lot more men did!

"or picks up his stuff off the floor." I also made this point on another thread - none of my dad, ex's dad or either of my granda's (who'd be well into their 90's now) would ever have DREAMT of being as disrespectful as to not tidy up after their own arses! They put clothes, used dishes, tools, paperwork etc away when they were finished with them! Ie they acted like grown men not toddlers!

Now - many if not most women go back to work within a few years of having DC, also lots of men's jobs are less demanding than they were then - certainly physically. People talk about long hours now as if long hours weren't worked then, well of course they were. Working hours regulation is actually quite a recent development.

Personally I think being a sahp especially with pre-school DC or where there's additional factors like disabilities, is 24/7, 365 days a year. Whereas a wohp is of course not working outside the home those hours, they work I think the ave is 9 hour days. But within that day they get a lunch break. I've been a sahm, full time student mum and working mum BY FAR the easiest was working mum! Peace on the commute, lunch break and because we were out most of the day 5 days a week not much mess being made at home! So to my mind there's absolutely no good reason why the wohp shouldn't be doing 50% of the work needing done when they are at home.

Yes the sahp will likely be doing the bulk of the housework during the day, but the household management and what needs done outside of wohp's time at home should be equally divided.

I come from where my parents on this divided labour along traditional lines, as did ex's parents BUT both fathers pulled their weight when they were home. Neither cooked or but both were "handy" types so kept on top of all DIY, gardening and home maintenance, managed the household finances, did the dishes and hoovering (they saw this as a "heavy" job which puzzled me for a few years until as a teen I tried to use my grans ancient but still working Hoover which weighed a bloody ton! Then it made sense!), carried the groceries and other heavy items (both families didn't have cars until the DC were teens), helped DC with homework and things like learning to ride bikes, to swim, "practical" or more "physical" hobby stuff, so while mum's tended to do bath/bedtime dads did mornings (chasing teens up of a morning can be no easy feat!), breakfasts.

Ex was shockingly lazy which I didn't really learn until we were married unfortunately. I had to move a fair distance when we first married (he and our dads were army) so wasn't working initially (but was job hunting) and was happy to do the majority of the housework, but when I went back to work he tried to carry on doing sod all! Had a big chat huge argument about that which then resolved things. Part of it was also down to he'd never run a home before (he'd gone from parents home straight to barracks so just one small room to maintain and no bills to organise as rent & mess fees deducted from wage), whereas I'd been living alone in a one bed flat several years at this point. So there was a learning curve too.

When we had dd though on this score he was ok. He took a couple weeks annual leave (no paternity then) and did a lot while off, then when he went back to work obviously I was keeping things going during day but when he got in of an evening he'd bath and change dd while I made dinner, then we'd eat, he'd do dishes and put a laundry on and clean kitchen, do any other jobs I asked him to, depending how day had gone. I bf dd until she was 9 months (milk dried, he'd fetch me a drink or muslin if needed while feeding, wind her, he was actually really good with her when she went through a colicky phase. Certainly didn't object to doing night wakings and then when she was bottle fed we roughly split the night feedings. He got 2 days off a week (not always weekends) so we'd take it in turns to have a "lie in" those days although when she was still bf I didn't always get a very long one if she needed fed (once I'm awake that's it!).

I remember he had a friend/colleague around this time who was a right dick! His wife had their first baby about 6 months after us and he wouldn't do night stuff, early mornings, any housework or childcare. She was dying on her knees! He made the mistake at someone else's leaving do of calling ex and others who did pull their weight 'mugs' - in addition to pissing them off it meant they knew how little he was doing. Their boss pulled him in for a "chat" the following day. It's a peculiarity of army I think that bosses can comment on how you're running your home life. No idea what the boss said, but he went home that day, apologised to his wife and started being better at home.

I'll get flamed for saying this but I'd say something to him! She's not only got a lot on her plate, she's ill too! Yes mostly people should stay out of other people's relationships but SOMETIMES especially when a person is not in a position to stand up for themselves I think there's an argument for others standing up for them!

Another thing none of my, my ex's (has caused serious arguments between them), father nor my granda's would have even DREAMT of doing is not supporting their child financially. Yet far too many men I'd say aged 50's and below think this is a hugely unfair demand on them.

It's good the stigma of being a single mum has all but gone (socially - politically is another matter) but unfortunately it's meant men are seemingly no longer expected to be decent fathers. For my and my ex's fathers generation and older they would have been seen as irresponsible failures if they hadn't provided for their DC - at that time including not marrying the mother of course (I'm a 'shotgun' baby - while other thread). Not saying we should go back to you have to get married if woman gets pregnant, but I do think we've gone too far in letting men abdicate responsibility for the children they are half responsible for creating!

In her shoes I'd be waking him up with ice cubes on his dick, and telling him to stop being such a lazy arse! No wonder she's got pnd! She's basically got an extra child not a life partner!

Unfortunately I think the bar for acceptable behaviour in men in MANY ways is WOEFULLY low at the moment - even lower than when supposedly they were doing less.

OutPinked · 24/08/2018 16:46

SAHP should take on the bulk of it because they have more time on their hands to do so. I’m not saying a baby is a walk in the park but they do sleep quite a lot so there’s a fair bit of time to put a washing load on, empty the dishwasher etc. I realise some babies are more attached than others though, my DD was compared to the other two and went through awful growth spurts where she would gladly sit and feed for an hour. I still took on the lions share of housework because I felt it wasn’t fair to expect H to do so once he’d finished a long shift.

It doesn’t mean the working parent should be lazy though, of course. They should still help out at the weekend and not leave even more of a mess for the SAHP to clean.

SleepingStandingUp · 24/08/2018 16:49

If the child is home then her first job is childcare. Then tidying up after themselves. Anything left olonce both adults are home is shared.

If child is in nursery / school then in the "free hours" it's pee in peace, eat in peace, housework. Anything left once both adults is home is shared.

Simples.

supercalifragilistic2 · 24/08/2018 16:56

I think it depends on specific factors...

If the kids are all at school, I'd see no reason why the sahp can't do the lions share of the day to day tasks, so hoover, loading dishwasher/cleaning pots, chucking a load of laundry in etc. The WP would obviously chip in at the weekend and get other tasks done, that are more a once a week type affair. So mowing lawn, DIY type tasks etc.

If the WP works very long hours (so say out of the house from 7am till 7pm I wouldn't expect them to then start cleaning behind the fridge on their return home (but I would at least expect then to pick up after themselves, if the dishwasher needs loading or is half full, put your dirty cup/plate in etc), don't leave wet towels on the bathroom floor etc, if the bin needs emptying just take it out.

If the kids are very young and aren't at school, being at home all day can be exhausting, so I would be expecting the other parent to maybe do bedtime or cook the tea (one does bedtime, the other cooks then Cleans the kitchen). Them sitting on their arse whilst sahp does everything is unfair.

I'm at home with toddler during the day and work evenings, I expect dp to at least not create additional cleaning by tidying up after himself. He does ds's bedtime as I'm out at work and will walk the dog when I get home (about 9pm).

BasicSAHM · 24/08/2018 17:07

Of course! Maybe they should try a format with a clear division of labor? Instead of taking turns/sharing chores. It’s worked for the past 10 years for my husband and I. We both have our specific chores. Done deal.

I’ll be honest I do most of the tidying and dishes. I have a cleaner for deeper cleaning stuff. He does his own laundry, ironing, takes trash and recycling out. In a perfect world I’d like for him to somecif the after dinner Cleaning but it’s his time with the kids. He hasn’t seen them all day and really they all enjoy that bit of quality time together. I enjoy my bit of kid free time. He also does books and bedtime every other night. In the end you need to have something fair worked out and commit to it.

GoatWithACoat · 24/08/2018 17:10

Oh fuck that! I’ve had 2 weeks off work to spend time with my kids in the holidays. I’m looking forward to going back Monday for the break! (I do have 4 though and one is a baby)

Thirtyrock39 · 24/08/2018 17:11

I think it's such a MN ideal that a sahp is just doing childcare and everything else should be split - irl I don't know any families with a sahp or part time parent where this happens!
Kids need some attention and obv babies and toddlers a lot more but they don't need constant 1:1 with a parent - when I was a sahp there was still plenty of 'down time' when the kids were happily engaged in some activity or having naps etc...Most sahp have a partner who is earning good money in order for them to be able to afford to be at home and therefore are likely to have a very demanding job with high stress and long hours - most sahp will do the lions share of home things due to this.

PassivePotato · 24/08/2018 17:16

I think the debate falls more neatly when the children are school-aged and there's a SAHP (the mother, typically).

Babies are an entirely different kettle of fish, you often just can't put them down. Her husband should definitely help out.

When my kids were babies/toddlers I was happy for my husband to take them and just leave me to clean in peace. It played to our strengths and gave me a break from the kids. But, I like cleaning to a certain extent.

Bowejangles · 24/08/2018 17:51

For context they have three DC ages 6, 4 and 4 months

She worked through all pregnancies and became a SAHM only after the birth of DC3

He doesn't do any handiwork like repairs, choosing to leave them completely undone. Examples are a broken freezer door, broken door handle in the bathroom and so on

He spends his spare time doing his hobbies and she's very homely but not 'handy'

OP posts:
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