Am I right to be annoyed?

[Ward12]

Today we had roast chicken. My partner peeled the potatoes and put them on to par boil, put the chicken in the oven and peeled the sprouts (he is the only one who eats them). He then walked off. I was left to keep an eye on the things he had prepared. I made the stuffing and prepared and cooked the broccoli, carrots, and parsnips. When it was time to serve up I called up for him to come down and help with the gravy. He was watching football and I heard him say for f sake I have done enough, so I told him not to bother. This isn't the only thing he has done to annoy me over Christmas. Am I being unreasonable to ask for help?

Sounds about 50/50

Why does the gravy require help?

You were unreasonable to tell him not to bother. Got just he wanted didn't he.

It sounds like a fair split to me, but if you were about to serve up it would be reasonable to expect him to tear himself away from the football.

Hardly grounds for divorce though.

I just wanted the gravy stirred whilst I was dishing up the dinner to avoid lumps. I will add I did the washing up whilst he had a nap on the sofa.

Personally Boxing Day is a day for chilling out for me so perhaps what DH wanted. Next time get a take away

We are not married and didn't mention splitting up. I am sure if I posted about his behaviour over Christmas you might think differently.

Really? I wish when I done a roast it consisted of peeling spuds, put chicken in and peeling sprouts. Then walking off and chilling out.

@pinksheetss No, he would never want a takeout as he considers it lazy and a waste of money.

That’s pretty much it. Roasts are easy. Bung it in the oven and heat some veg.

That's fine. Order a take out for you and he can cook his own dinner. You can have a nap while you wait for your delivery.

Tbh I would be really annoyed if someone asked me to help them stir the gravy.

Not everything is a 2 person job and I’ve never heard of gravy that needed continual stirring whilst dishing up.

However, I would be very annoyed that he didn’t help with the washing up.

I think doing half of the cooking is always going to cause problems.

Why not have 1 person cook and the other wash up and then alternate the next time.

You sound a bit melodramatic about putting veg in a pan of water.

Ah right, so no basting, turning spuds, checking on things, further veg prep no? The roast just miraculously sorts itself? OK.

I think you would be better off taking turns cooking the dinner then there’s no arguments over who's doing what. It doesn't work, two people in the kitchen trying to cook the same meal.

Aye pretty much. And let’s face it basting is hardly difficult. People get ridiculously worked up about roasts on here. It’s one of the easiest dinners to do.

Where did I say it was difficult? The point I'm making is you don't peel spuds, put a chicken in and peel sprouts and call it a completed roast. And you know you don't.

I never said it was a completed roast.

That's the whole point of the OP. He half arsed done a few things and walked off. Then fumed when he was asked for a bit of help to complete it. Anyway, cba with people being purposely awkward. Have a nice day.

Where did I say it was difficult? The point I'm making is you don't peel spuds, put a chicken in and peel sprouts and call it a completed roast. And you know you don't.

But it's half a roast! Peeling and chopping veg and putting onto boil is about as equally un stressful.

It doesn't need watching. That's a choice.

Washing up didn't need doing right that second - that's a choice.

However I'm thinking there's a bigger story to this and it explains why this annoyed you so much?

What kind of stuffing, from a packet or from scratch?

Aye speak for yourself.

It's probably easier to take turn about with cooking, DH would get under my feet and vice versa!

Thanks for your replies. I don't think it was a big deal to ask him to stop watching football for a few minutes and help stir the gravy. I don't see why cooking dinner can't be a team effort. I don't feel the dinner can just be left, I was doing other things whilst I was keeping an eye on it. I have been with my partner for 27 years and have put up with a lot over the years. This is only one incident where I have been frustrated/annoyed with him. Since I finished work last Thursday there have been a number of incidents where his behaviour has been awful rather than just annoying/frustrating.