Now that I have to get used to living in a house with only boys (boy husband, boy children, boy dog), I need to accept some of the differences between men and women. For example, last week I said a poop joke. Chuck was surprised, but I reminded him that I was soon to be very outnumbered and had better get used to it. (Don't worry; I don't plan on repeating that. It didn't feel good.) But here are some ways I've noticed in which Chuck and I are very different and I can't tell if it's just the difference between him and me, or gender differences, or what.
1. The laundry. Up until a couple of weeks ago when he was "grounded" from laundry (I'm still not sure what I meant by this), every single piece of clothes that he wore ended up in the hamper. Regardless of whether it was dirty, into the dirty clothes it went. This was frustrating to me on so many levels. First, I have to wash and fold all of it (I won't even mention how it's always inside out--whoops, too late). Second, the washer, while good for washing, it's not good at preserving. Clothes don't last as long when they're repeatedly laundered and we don't have a large clothes budget. Third, as garment wearers and those not involved in regular heavy sweating, I don't think it's even necessary to wash something after being worn only once. Garments, yes; everything else, generally not. And fourth, I think this stems from laziness more than anything, he'd rather throw it in the dirty clothes and have it come back washed and folded than simply hang it up when done wearing. What about you? Do you find men do this more or no?
2. Finding things. Oh my. I can send Chuck to the pantry to get something I KNOW we have in there, and he will stand there for 2-3 minutes before returning to me with the report that it's not there. I sigh, walk back to the pantry, only to see it sitting where it has sat for nearly three years. We both laugh because this happens so often (and not just with the pantry), but is this a gender thing or no? He claims that he's looking only in the "one" spot wherein he expects the object to be. I, however, look all over, in addition to that "one" spot.
3. Multi-tasking. Let me be blunt: Chuck is mostly incapable of it. I find it amazing that Chuck, Rhett, and I can be sitting at the dinner table and Rhett is repeating something over and over that he really wants Chuck to hear, but Chuck is so engrossed in something else that he doesn't hear him. I, on the other hand, can brush my teeth, make my bed, and talk to Rhett all at the same time.
4. Letting things roll of ones back. I cannot do this; Chuck can. I fight being easily offended and letting little things hurt my feelings (What?! She unfriended me? My day is ruined!), but I'm not very successful. Chuck, on the other hand, is a champ at this. Nothing truly fazes him and it's very hard to hurt his feelings. (Which is why I know I can write a post like this; he could not and get away with it.)
I'm sure there are more, but that's all I have. What do you have?
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I am so offended by this post!
ReplyDelete(nice chuck. plus 2 comments in a row - you're on a roll.)
ReplyDeleteitems 1-3 are pretty much ben, too. item number 1 is also a huge problem for my little boys. but theirs is just laziness as they don't want to figure out where to put back their clean clothes. i hate it!
ben couldn't find something last week in the playroom that was suppose to be there. i went down and in a nanosecond had spotted it on the floor in the middle of the room with nothing covering it. no joke.
same thing on number 3 - sometimes i just lower my voice and say "yes" when the kids have said, "dad, dad, dad, dad." it's insane.
but ben is a little more sensitive in regards to number 4, i think.
i was just laughing as i was reading it cuz it reminded me so much of ben.
good thing we love them!
Must be a male thing, for the most part.
ReplyDelete1. I have a large pile of clothing on the cahise in our bedroom that is designated as "can be worn again" but Al never has a pile like that.
2. Al couldn't find anything if it weren't for me. And it is the same scenario, I send him with explicit instructions on where something is and he returns to tell me how it isn't there...then I retrieve it for him.
3. AMEN! We can get so much done at the same time, it is necessary as a mother, not as a father.
4. So true and so sad. I get my feelings hurt so easily, but Al just shrugs and moves on. I often find myself wishing I could be more like this, but alas I am just too sensitive. I think this is one of the reasons women can be so compassionate and nurturing though....we're aware of how things make us feel and therefore more cautious in what we say and do towards others.
I can TOTALLY relate to #2 and 3. WOW. Multi-tasking is NOT P's strength, in fact, it's not really even in his vocabulary, and I can find ANYTHING........in fact most of the time I have an exact "visual" of whatever "it" is in my head, and sure enough, it usually is. ;)
ReplyDeleteToo funny. But apparently, he's offended. ;)
The laundry thing is the BIG thing in our house. Jim's normally good at placing things to be worn again on top of the dresser, but if it's on the floor - even if it was clean and got put there by accident - it automatically goes in the laundry. I guess he figures if it was on the floor, it's worth washing again?! And we've discussed the looking for things, thing. This drives me CRAZY!!! If I wanted to go get it myself, I could and would. But sometimes I need him to get it for me - which I end up getting for myself in the end anyway.
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