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lealonnie1 Asked April 2020

Spending too much time together in the house: What's driving YOU crazy?

I left my job about 2 weeks ago; DH is working 3 days a week and home for 4 at the moment. He loves to cook. Trouble is, he's a SLOB. In capital letters. Today he is taking a cooking class online and has been prepping for it for 2 days. My kitchen looks like a bomb hit it. Every bowl, every appliance, every utensil, it's all over the counters, the kitchen table, he even has a laptop lying on a stool in the middle of the room. The dog is in heaven because being a slob translates to lots of snacks for her! My hot dog is starting to look more like a knockwurst on a daily basis!


He is driving me crazy with all this cooking! Because it leaves me to do the REAL cleaning up afterwards. This morning, I was woken up to the stench of smoke coming off the grill on the deck. Wafting through my open bedroom window. He was cooking breakfast before the 10:30 am cooking class!


I told him the next few days there is a MORATORIUM on cooking! And a respite from kitchen cleaning for ME.


How's being cooped up together working for YOU? Let's share a laugh or two, I think we all need it!

Beatty Apr 2020
Well I shouldn't admit it but I have enjoyed today: iso day #1

Was exposed to a person at work who is now awaiting the swab test so instructed to self-isolate at home until results back. Like on my own but 4 of us in the house - with 3 bedrooms. So yesterday I phoned DH from the car & told him. After he FREAKED OUT he got his me-man-me-fix-it on - rearranged the furniture & now I live in the Cov-Pod. It has the camping matts, a tv viewing hole, my computer & best of all: wine & coffee are delivered! I had my meals provided on the deck. Waving to the family through the glass doors as I ate in peace listening to the birds. I mask up to put my dishes into the DW, then back outside or the pod. No housework, no cooking, just reading & music.

My kids asked if I was lonley or sad 🤣🤣🤣🤣 yes of course sweeties I miss you all.
lealonnie1 Apr 2020
OMG the cov-pod!! LOVE IT! No housework or cooking, just reading & music, tv from a viewing hole,and delivered wine & coffee. Sounds heavenly!
All joking aside........stay well, dear one, and I hope your co-worker's test comes back negative and all turns out well for both of you.
Sendhelp Apr 2020
Thinking of slapping him upside the head, into next year.
Just like they do on NCIS, when Gibbs slaps DiNozzo.

But I am not a violent person.

Really, we are doing GREAT!

But last night about 10 p.m., I suggested we put a time limit on arguing. So, we argued about what time that should be. 🤦‍♀️
lealonnie1 Apr 2020
DH just now told me he 'loves me very much but your cheese has slid off of your cracker' in response to my ideas about what's going on in the world right now. Personally, it's HIS cheese that's slid off the cracker, not mine. So let the arguments begin! :)

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xrayjodib Apr 2020
Lealonie1,
Girl you made me giggle!!
I know this is a hard one, but you sound like me! I have discovered if I don't clean up my hubby's pots and pans, HE has to wash them if he wants to use them!!
Let's face it, no one is gonna come for a visit!
Go soak in the tub and paint your nails girl!!
God bless!!

Midkid58 Apr 2020
My DH is working from home going on 3 weeks now. He was going to the AFB where he is working, basically, all alone in a huge warehouse, so they deemed it safe for him. Then his boss' boss found out and blew a head gasket. DH is a liver transplant recipient of 14 years and pretty healthy--but the "big guy" decided it was too dangerous to have him out in the 'field'. Which he technically was, but came home every night.

Now he has taken over the office with 3 monitors and daily conference calls. He stopped shaving and now has a full beard. Needs a haircut and is starting to look like a wolverine :)

I am still recovering from chemotherapy and developed shingles about 10 days ago--just beyond miserable and he did step up and help a little. I was scratching like crazy and bleeding from some of the blisters and he was nice- trying to find something to stop the itching. (Gabapentin did the trick, that and cortisone cream!) He actually went to the feed store and bought a spray that the use on horses when they get tick-bit. It helped for about 10 minutes.

Today he soaked in the tub for 5 hours. Then he ate dinner and went to bed. I'm trying to give him space but I have my routine and he's kind of in the way :)

This whole thing has been a good learning experience for us--he is retiring next year and then going to work on contract for the same company. Now we KNOW that he has to have a separate space for work--we can't share an office! Plus we're stuck here together and I am finding that I am going to have to really work hard at having him around all the time.

I laughed at the guy who is cooking. My DH can nuke a hot dog or fry eggs, but that's it. He is truly amazed that I can whip up a whole meal in an hour or less--something he truly could never do. He's very impressed that all the dishes are ready at the same time. When he cooks for the family, he cooks ONE thing. If we're having BBQed salmon, that is ALL we have, no sides, just a hunk of salmon. It's easier to laugh at the silliness than waste time being annoyed and angry. (although I admit to being crabby at times. I still don't feel 100% better and won't for a bit).

And, no, he does not clean up. I am happy if his dishes get into the DW. Lowering my expectations really helped :)
lealonnie1 Apr 2020
The FEED STORE for HORSE SPRAY? Good Lord.......ONLY a MAN would do such a thing!!!!!!!!!! Hopefully he found something for himself to treat prune skin from soaking for FIVE HOURS IN A TUB! :(
I'm sorry you have the effing shingles on top of everything else....they are awful. When my mother has her episodes of chronic itching, we've found that Dermoplast spray works fairly well for about an hour (numbs the area).
metoo111 Apr 2020
Lealonnie1, I hear you about cleaning up the kitchen. It's frustrating when it takes longer to clean the kitchen than it does to eat the meal.

I was often reminding my boys to put their dishes in the dishwasher. No amount of nagging seemed to penetrate! I made them stop whatever they were doing to put the plate away but that didn't work either. Frustratingly, my hubby is the nice parent and just does it for them.

A few years ago, I got fed up and served the kid's dinner on the dirty plates from the sink. (I wasn't too worried about getting them sick). They didn't realize they were eating on dirty plates until they eaten down to the stuck on food from the previous meal. They were grossed out and mad at me (including hubby). I told them to expect it again if they didn't put their dishes in the dishwasher. It has improved so I was willing to be #$% Mom for a night.

With the kids home more now, I am teaching them how to cook. At first, they all blanched at touching raw meat. Wimps! They've gotten better about that and are more appreciative of the effort it takes to get a good meal on the table.

As the sign on my kitchen wall says, "M is for Mother, not for Maid."

FYI...My MIL gave me that sign just after I got married. Hubby and I were nowhere near ready for kids. My dad made a sign to give my MIL..."C is for Condom, not for Child"

Thanks for the laughs, they are helping!
lealonnie1 Apr 2020
HILARIOUS!!! Thank you for brightening my day Metoo!!
Shell38314 Apr 2020
EVERYBODY!!! I really wish today I was on a island by myself soaking up some sun drinking a glass of Merlot with a good book! Even my poor cats are getting on my nerves!!

Sorry for venting!😣
lealonnie1 Apr 2020
I'd like to join you, if you don't mind company!
Beatty Apr 2020
Covid test neg so can have my life of drudgery - oops I mean freedom back!

DH wanted to dismantle the 'pod'. No No No I may need it again...
xrayjodib Apr 2020
Great news Beatty!!
Taarna Apr 2020
My hubby is a gadget guy. He spends hours lovingly tinkering, and sometimes fixing things for me. He spends more time with his toys than me. However, we are blessed to be healthy and he is still working 30 hours out of the house. I wish I was working but jobs are scarce now.

EllensOnly Apr 2020
What is it about men and having to use every bowl, pot & pan when they cook! My husband & son are the same way. Currently my husband (UPS Tractor Trailer Driver) and I (Contract Supervisor for a Social Service Agency) are both still working. Grown son is home with us after a relationship breakup. We’ve always used the rule that if you cook the rest of the family has to cleanup. Son has been fairly good about taking that role on himself since Dad & I are both working, Dad works nights and I’m off to the office all day. So the other night I was having some back problems after work and asked son to cook. Before he started he made sure DW was empty and loaded with any new dishes. Simple meal – Steak on the grill, canned veggie and instant mashed potatoes. Should have been two bowls to heat the sides in the microwave and the plate for the steaks aside from dinner dishes. Nope we had a couple pots and then serving bowls and extra plates for I’m not sure what. When he saw what his previously clean kitchen looked like he commented that now he understands. Not as bad as his father, when he gets in the kitchen I usually leave the house.
lealonnie1 Apr 2020
I KNOW! I have to stay OUT of the kitchen entirely when DH is cooking, it's THAT bad in there!!!
MargaretMcKen Apr 2020
Neither husband for me was much of a cook (current DH can’t even boil water, but good at repairing tractors). My rules have always been that he/she who cooks also cleans up, which covered teenager daughters as well. Otherwise it really really isn’t that much of a helping gesture. Personally I wouldn’t cook anything more until DH cleans up the kitchen.

DH isn’t getting on my nerves here, but he spends most of the time in the shed (eg being good at repairing tractors). I’m lonely! I’m spending much too much time on this site – thanks everyone! I’ve nearly finished cleaning out the cupboards. Yes I too had too many cans of beans (that joke made me laugh), rotties in the back of the fridge (I hope I’m not going to be reported to APS local equivalent for putting DH at risk, as suggested in another thread), and various odds and ends from past suggestions from people I can no longer remember. Last night I cooked Moghrabieh, a Lebanese dish with ‘pearls’ like couscous, but taking much longer to cook. It was really nice, in spite of the slightly worrying ‘best before’ date on the pearls of 2010. Heh, there are grains in tombs in the Pyramids lasting for a lot longer than that, and it was all OK. We are all going through a crash course in being adaptable. Perhaps set exams for your DH, Lealonnie!

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