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Housekeeping

Find cleaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Housekeeping forum.

post lockdown reflections : when their cleaning, cooking and tidying standards are not the same as yours and probably never will be

18 replies

Flintfarmhouse · 17/03/2022 11:17

Just want to vent really. I wasn't sure whether to post this in relationships or not but this is specifically about housekeeping rather than other aspects of our relationship which are fine.

Disclaimer: I am no domestic goddess, but I do like things in their place. But I am not want of those people who is always cleaning. I like a hygienic kitchen and bathroom but I am not that bothered about the rest as long as I can find things.

The problem is, DH has taken over more domestic tasks since the beginning of the pandemic, for which I am grateful. Although he has improved a bit, and he isn't lazy and he is always reliable, he just doesn't do anything particularly well.

For example, when he cooks, six o'clock seems to come to him as a surprise (he buys food but doesn't seem able to think about putting ingredients together to make a meal) he doesn't stick to our very loose meal plan, he doesn't cook many vegetables, and he doesn't clean up very well afterwards. (We both opted to clean up our own mess btw rather than have whoever doesn't cook, cleans rule.)

This is just one example. Suffice to say that after two years of being at home, he still has no clue really what goes in to keeping a house. He doesn't see mess, he doesn't seem capable of advance planning, and when he does a specific task like cleaning a hand-basin although he has tried to do it well, it's not done very well at all.

Now I have no reason to believe that he is taking the piss or being strategically incompetent because that is not his character. He always makes an effort. He's an intelligent man with a professional job. And he is considerate and thoughtful in many ways. But housekeeping isn't something he thinks about I suppose. He has got slightly better over lockdown but I am beginning to realise I'm flogging a dead horse as he just doesn't "get" it.

I know this is not the same scenario in all houses as my friend has a husband who is fanatical about cleanliness while she is rather messy but if you are in the same position as me, what do you do?

Should I just give up hoping for anything different and accept that, if I want a house that suits me and my standards, I ultimately need to take responsibility responsibility for it, even though I only work on average, 5 or 6 fewer hours than him a week? He does earns more than me. We have had cleaners in the past but now we are wfh, it's quite difficult with Zoom calls and dog etc.

It just pisses me off and from reading these boards it seems I am not the only one. When he has done something badly, he genuinely can't see it, so he's bewildered when I complain. He did grow up in a home that was generally messy. He is the sort that can sit down among total chaos and focus on his work, whereas I would find that very difficult. He doesn't understand why it would upset me or anyone else for that matter.

He is an intelligent man and doesn't usually take the piss, tries his hardest at most things,

OP posts:
Flintfarmhouse · 17/03/2022 11:20

Excuse last superfluous line!

OP posts:
Cynderella · 17/03/2022 11:58

I know exactly what you mean. I try to let it not bother me, but it does. I have tried different strategies , but the only one that works is for me to do it myself when I can.

Flintfarmhouse · 17/03/2022 12:40

Thanks Cynderella that's a depressing but honest answer! Smile

OP posts:
Flintfarmhouse · 17/03/2022 15:41

Sometimes I just long to live on my own!

Although I suppose we all have less tolerance for other people's mess Smile

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Natfemale · 17/03/2022 15:59

This reply has been deleted

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dipdye · 17/03/2022 16:02

He doesn't see it as important. If he did, he'd do it.

Flintfarmhouse · 17/03/2022 16:08

I think they are hardwired to achieve a big task in a single go ( slaying mammoths) and women are more aligned to continuous effort and constant vigilance (everything else)

Don't be sorry Natfemale that makes quite a bit of sense actually! I'd like to do some more reading around the subject tbh but don't know quite where to start.

I come down in the morning to do the breakfast and I think I would just as soon starve
This made me grimace in recognition I'm afraid Grin

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Tlollj · 17/03/2022 16:10

There must be something he can do without it becoming your problem?
My ex is an arse in many ways so feel free to ignore me. He used to do ‘showy jobs’ cooking lovely meals, taking the kids out and about etc. But wouldn’t think to clean the basin after a shave. Like a Disney Dad but a Disney husband instead.

Flintfarmhouse · 17/03/2022 16:11

@dipdye

He doesn't see it as important. If he did, he'd do it.
That is also a possibility, inasmuch as he doent prioritise it. I honestly don't think it's deliberate avoidance, I think it's because he doesn't naturally think about it as much as I do, or is not as disturbed by it when it's messy, so it literally isn't important.
OP posts:
Flintfarmhouse · 17/03/2022 16:11

Well, not important to him.

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Flintfarmhouse · 17/03/2022 16:12

@Tlollj

There must be something he can do without it becoming your problem? My ex is an arse in many ways so feel free to ignore me. He used to do ‘showy jobs’ cooking lovely meals, taking the kids out and about etc. But wouldn’t think to clean the basin after a shave. Like a Disney Dad but a Disney husband instead.
I'm afraid this rings true. I just haven't thought of it like that. Sad
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MenaiMna · 17/03/2022 16:15

If he's an intelligent man doing his career job well he can read and learn from a simple instruction manual. It's called "household management for men" widely available cheap secondhand. I'm not thrilled about the sexist title but I'd recommend it for teenage and up for people who need to learn to adult.

HelloHiBonjour · 17/03/2022 16:20

Well, with DH it helped to get his eyes tested - any chance it is something as simple as that?

Pommelegible · 17/03/2022 16:28

Mine is similar although he doesn’t do much housework but for example he’ll wash up but not wipe round the sink or empty the plug hole of bits or dry off the surrounding area. He also randomly leaves half the stuff that needs washing up.

Or he’ll bath the children but leave the water in with all the toys in and their clothes will be strewn across the floor, towels left on bedroom floor etc.

But he can say he’s done the task, which he has but not all the surrounding stuff that go with it.

When I was ill and asked him to clean the bathroom he did the bath/shower, sink and bowl of the loo but not the tiles or windowsill or the cupboard or the cistern or rim/loo seat. Didn’t do the floor or skirting etc. Just didn’t occur to him that anything else in the bathroom needed cleaning.

He can finish eating and go straight to evening mode and sit and watch tv. Meanwhile there’s dishes to do, toys all over the floor, children to actually get washed and to bed, children to hear read, floor to be swept etc. Then if I say anything or get huffy because he’s just left me to do it all he says ‘just leave it’. I don’t think he has any idea how much tidying/wiping/sweeping I do every day or what a state the place would be if I did just leave it!

He’s a really hardworking person in general (both at work and in parenting) but most household tasks seem invisible to him

Pommelegible · 17/03/2022 17:21

@Tlollj

There must be something he can do without it becoming your problem? My ex is an arse in many ways so feel free to ignore me. He used to do ‘showy jobs’ cooking lovely meals, taking the kids out and about etc. But wouldn’t think to clean the basin after a shave. Like a Disney Dad but a Disney husband instead.
This does ring a bit true for me too actually. We live in a fixer upper and he does ALL of the diy (and works hard on it) but it’s a bit more impressive saying “I sanded and painted all of the skirting boards” rather than being the one who dusts them week after week so he gets more recognition for his contribution. Does that make sense?
Flintfarmhouse · 17/03/2022 19:19

Yes it does make total sense Pommelegible.

I guess the household tasks that were traditionally viewed as "women's work" are all pretty boring, routine, mundane and take place on a regular basis out of sight, so they are not noticed eg cleaning the loo or dusting.

And btw it appears we are married to the same DH (apart from the DIY, which my DH does not do).
Mine doesn't seem to see half of what needs doing and let's just say he sits down after dinner way before everything is done, even when it's his turn.

HelloHiBonjour. I'm assured that he is up to date with his eye tests and glasses etc but it's certainly worth checking again!

And thanks for book recommendation MenaiMna

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PierresPotato · 17/03/2022 19:40

Get him to look into household management systems like flylady or A Slob Comes Clean podcast/ YouTube.
They have helped me get more of a grip.

Tlollj · 18/03/2022 11:49

Oh mine used to do untold diy jobs. He was good at it too but not every day cleaning jobs. He’d go shopping and we’d have steak for dinner, but he ‘forgot’ to buy washing powder. All for show. Fur coat no knickers as my old mum would say.

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