Something DH can do that I just can't.

[Dontmentionfringe]

I realised this Christmas that for all I criticise him DH can do something I just can't. His ability to patiently get involved in small talk from my elderly relations for long periods is astonishing. Same stories over and over. Hour after hour. Never thanked him til today. Whats your Dh's special skill?

He’s not a great talker. Doesn’t do small talk.
He is the smartest guy I know. He’s insanely clever and has won every scientist award there is. He’s lovely and kind and is a relentless cheerleader for my career.
But what he’s REALLY good at and I am not is playing make believe games with small children. He can play with our kids endlessly and be as genuinely invested in hour 3 as he was in the first five minutes. I have no idea how.

My dh has the same skill as yours op. I live my elderly dad but have heard his 'theories' a couple of times.. as has dh. He listens rapt and gives my dad his undivided attention. He's so good it annoys me!

My DP is practical, focussed and hard-working. He does a huge amount at home and can build and fix anything. He is kind, calm and patient, he is great with kids (my family adore him) and a loving, supportive and respectful Dad to his lovely DC. He never stops learning things and striving to improve. He is musical and so talented but so understated. He is the shizzle and I love him muchly.

Funnily enough, I'm the small talk person - have been tasked at many a gathering/wedding/party et al to engage the weird/boring/difficult relatives. Strangely, I find them all really interesting. Husband though has really useful skills. He can fix anything and has saved us thousands over the years. I swear to god if Jeff Bezos turned up at the door and asked him to have a look at his rocket it would be fixed in an afternoon!

Placemarking and so happy for you all that you have such wonderful men in your lives!

Mine is a really safe driver. I was in a crash with my drunk dad when I was young and I forget all about it when I'm in a car with DH.

Tolerating my parents. We live in a different country and they've been staying with us for over a month now and aren't leaving for another 3 weeks. Our house is not big enough for us all (we don't even have a spare room) and honestly, it's too long a trip. But while I am rapidly turning in Logan "Fuck Off!" Roy, he has an ability to just swallow his irritation and pretend they aren't there.

He can get DS up, dressed, breakfasted and out of the house in under 25 mins. DS runs rings around me, takes me an hour on a good day to get him ready.

Dh can do nearly everything better than me. He's the catch of the relationship without a doubt (I don't mind and he doesn'tagree!)!!!

He is the kindest, nicest human being I know and everybody loves him.

I'm a bit of a git, and if I'm having an awkward day, I push him forward as my emotional support human and everything is grand.

He makes excellent soup and THE perfect fried egg, washes up without complaint (I love to cook, but hate washing up), loves our cats maybe more than he loves me, and irons things beautifully.

His very SPECIAL skill, though, is knowing exactly what will suit somebody - we call him 'Gok Wan'! I hate shopping, so if I have an occasion to go to, I can send him out to buy me an outfit and it will be perfect, far better than anything I would have bought. I don't know how he does it.

Most importantly, he can still make me cry laughing, after almost 20 years together.

Mine can turn his hand to anything DIY. Plumbing, electrical, carpentry, decorating, car maintenance. If it’s broken he will fix it!!

He is not a tradesman either, he works in an office. Only thing he won’t do, is cook. I’m sure he can, but he won’t (-:

DP is a Present Wizard, he’s great at coming up with really good gift ideas for absolutely anyone. I’m rubbish at that, but he always helps me out with buying for my own relatives as well as his.

Does amazing roast potatoes and veg, also a whizz at homemade gourmet burger night.

Brilliant at cleaning the stairs, I have no patience for it (carpeted stairs with 3 cats and 2 dogs, stupid idea) but he goes up and down with wire brush and gets all the fluff up lovely.

My DH does way more than his fair share of housework and is also a sharer of the mental load, meaning I can focus on my more demanding job. We have a partnership of equals (although I never do the bins).
He misses DD every day she’s at nursery and can’t wait to go and pick her up. He’s a lovely hands on parent.
He’s absolutely driven by fairness, in politics, as a feminist, at work.
Not so much now, as our hands are usually full with children, but when we first met, I noticed that he’d always take my hand and hold it tightly when we crossed the road together. It sounds a bit silly and almost patronising when I write it down but there was something so gently tender and protective about it (which is DH all over) that it made me feel loved and safe. I’m a fiercely independent person otherwise and more than capable of crossing the road!

Does 99% of the cooking, even though when we married 20 years ago I had to teach him to cook.

Does all the shopping. I have difficulty standing so before covid I woukd go with him then wait in the car while he paid an packed it. Since Covid - I was on the Sheild list - I havnt been in a shop he does it all.

Does all the heavy lifting and anything that needs doing that I would have to kneel for.

Is a brilliant Father and Grandfather, even though my DS is not his. DH is 9 years younger than me and we never had children of our own. He married me knowing I couldn't have any more children.

Drives me if I need to go out at night, or if I need to go into Salisbury as he knows I hate driving then.

When my Dad was dying, ran the house, looked after the dog and had a meal on the table when I eventually got home each day.

He’s my XH now but he was amazing at packing, literally did the whole thing each time we moved while I flapped my hands in total disorientation at the mess. He was also very good with the elderly, so long as they weren’t related to him, and with small children. He changed though I really miss the old him 😢

My DH can lift our bikes on to the car roof rack because he's bigger and stronger than me. He's never been told that he can't do things, so he will have a go at any DIY task, usually with a flawless result. And he's a talented baby whisperer and can have a howling infant cooing and smiling in no time at all.

Mine actually enjoys housework. He works...I don't. We have 3 bathrooms which he loves deep cleaning...I let him!

Although my marriage is massively on the rocks right now.... My husband is also very practical and can fix/make things, do decorating, build stuff, do basic plumbing etc. He does however have to do it perfectly so it takes bloody ages. He's a blue light driver too so you always feel super safe in the car with him.

My DH can fix anything. He doesn't always choose to do it though (frustrating!)

Also he is so much more tolerant than me. While I'm ranting about someone (usually our business partners) he just shrugs it off. That's why we still have a business partnership tbh. I'd have wrecked it years ago.

Finding things that were (so we thought) irretrievable.

Car aerial that fell off near to my workplace, lost for weeks. A wheel nut that came loose on a drive home, I heard the clunk and knew approximately where - he found this under a bridge hidden in leaves. A mobile phone (on silent) dropped on bonfire night, in the dark with hundreds of people around. Car keys, tv remotes, you name it! He just calmly puts it back in place with no fuss - I would be dancing about triumphantly waving it in all their faces :):)

He's like a magnet for lost things. Luckily for us, as we lose things, a lot!

Mines brilliant at dealing with school/nursery (we have three young kids). He knows all the staffs names and things about them, chats to other parents and has built really useful relationships with managers where we have definitely benefitted. I'm an introvert and can't be arsed with all that but we have certainly gained out of him putting the time in, particularly with nursery which is a private one so they kind of make their own rules a lot of the time!

@AngelinaFibres

Being a fabulous dad to my children from my first marriage. He didn't have children with his first wife as , although they didn't know it when they met, she had incurable cancer. After she died, when they were both 38, he just thought he wouldn't have a family.The boys were 7 and 9 when I met him and he brought them up. Now they are both nearly 30 they absolutely love him and hugely respect him. They take him to sporting events , fill him with beer and laugh at his terrible 70s jokes. They regard him as dad and have a special name for him. He didn't expect to be a dad. He will be a grandad in March. He is beyond excited. A very fine man.

You have broken me! He sounds wonderful.

He does all the little things that I don't thank him enough for like bringing me coffee and making sure I've got fuel in my car. He doesn't leave his shoes in the hallway and he doesn't ask what needs to be done around the house because he pays attention. He's so affectionate too, verbally and physically he never stops showing his love for Dd and I. He's such a good egg.

@alwaysneedanap
He’s clearly hiding things and ‘finding’ them for the quiet glory

Mine is also fantastic at talking to anyone, mostly it's great, but sometimes I have to drag him away (for their sakes rather than his!!!) He's also very methodical at tidying a,d therefore finds things for us when we've just done a quick sweep of the room and said nope, it's not here. He's also amazing at undoing knots in things!