What the hell????

After the first month in my house, the only time the iron has come out of its box was when Setanta wanted a shirt ironed. I found the iron, handed it to him and wandered off. He found a nice spot to iron, asked for a coupla towels to cushion the surface and ironed the shirt.

Smart man.

Beth
Hee hee. I own 2 irons, but I never iron unless it's fabric I'm using for crafting. I always buy cloths that don't need ironing. I figure I've got enough to do.

Montana--

Your subtle curse cheered my day:



So generous of you to will your "wrong men" to Soz to balance her experience.

The only "girl job" I can do is cook. I know how to cook better than 90% percent of the girls I go out with. I've been cooking for me and my little brother since I was tall enough to reach the stove. I suck at all the other traditional "female jobs". When I iron shirts and my mom sees me, she makes me take it off so she can do it right.

Mr B does a lot around the house. He takes care of all the outside stuff (mowing, raking, shoveling, car washing) and the inside stuff I don't care for (emptying the dishwasher and vacuuming). I spend a lot of time outside puttering in my gardens and he spends a lot of time puttering in the house. We spend a lot of time together.

I couldn't nurse my babies so he was able to do an equal share of the feeding when they were infants. He's always been more of a nightowl and I've always been an early morning person. We were literally the house that never slept. He would stay up until the first middle-of-the-night feeding, usually around 2:30 and be with our daughter for awhile before putting her back to bed. I would get up for the next feeding and stay up for the day. We did this with both girls and I was able to sleep from 10:00 until around 5:00 which was Heaven for a new mother! He also changed his share of diapers and gave his share of baths. The only thing he balked at was doing the laundry. No problem, I've got that one covered.

You know, between photoman's thread and this one I think I'm going to expend some husband appreciation energy. Hmmmmmm....

Lemme at 'em, I'll teach 'em a thing or two...

People actually iron in this day and age? I really can't think of any situations where I iron clothes (as opposed to fabric as Montana mentions.) Either I wear it out of the washing machine, or if it's fancy I have it dry-cleaned. Same for hubby.

I do take some care to get things right out of the dryer and on hangers, but if that fails I'm more likely to put whatever it is back in the dryer with the next load than iron.

Noddy
Hahahaha!!!! I didn't even realize how I worded that, lol! Now I've had my laugh of the day :-D

Soz
Of course you knew what I meant and I would never wish any bad man upon you ;-)
Yeah, I think ironing went out years ago.

Tenoch
Part of the problem is refering to housework as "female jobs. These so called female jobs may be time consuming, but anyone can do them. Cooking is the hardest one, in my opinion and if you can cook, then you can certainly do dishes, vacuum, dust, do laundry, feed a child, change a diaper, play with a child, give them a bath and read them a bedtime story. These are all things that are considered female jobs by many men, when they are simply things that can be done by any gender. Unless it consists of breast feeding, then there's no reason why these other tasks should be automatically treated as womens work.
I cut the lawn, replace doorbells, replace light fixtures, fix broken appliences, etc, and I don't consider that stuff mens work and if I had a man in my life, I would prefer to do that stuff, while he cleans the house and cares for the kids ;-)

J_B
Oh sigh!!!! You lucky thing. I know I would appreciate those things very much and I envy every woman that has had the pleasure of having such wonderful men in their lives.

That's why I put "femal jobs" in quotes. I even said traditionally "female jobs". Point well taken Montana.

Got ya ;-)

From early on, my first husband and I agreed that we both hated doing dishes and housework. Therefore, we BOTH always did this. And we also had fun when there was much to be done by cranking up the music quite loud and boogied all through it. My three sons grew up knowing how to iron, do laundry, clean and cook. My oldest is now a general manager/executive gourmet chef. His wife and he equally share all household tasks and I'm very pleased to see this. Now there are two little girls, one a baby. Diapers and all the hard parts of child care are also something shared as much as possible. There is much more joy in raising children if you really participate in the actual raising of them.

Downy Wrinkle Releaser is the greatest invention since sliced bread!

Cobalt
Cool. Sounds like it worked out all the way around :-D

Phoenix
Just added it to my grocery list :-D

My wife has always held a job since before I knew her. Together we raised four children. No way she could handle everything at home without my help. I've always cooked, even now that the kids are gone, plus generally do things around the house to help out. I never have expected her to wait on me even times I don't feel well.

Edgar
Big hug and a smooch :-D

I love that stuff!!!! With that, my Febreeze <sp?> and a handy lint remover, I can look fabulous in a heartbeat!

My former husband was wonderful helping out with the kids when they were little, but didn't do much else. I attribute a lot of that to going straight from mom and dad's perfect Beaver Cleaver existence type home to getting married without the benefit of him ever living on his own. Being young, crazy and in love, I didn't foresee how this would impact our life down the road. I never wanted to be "his" mom after all.... that and about a million other reasons eventually led to our breakup and I ending up with both kids. Thank goodness for that!

Moving forward many a year now. My future husband is everything my former was not. He cooks and bakes and cleans and scrubs floors and toilets and vacuums and does laundry and changes sheets and knows when to turn a mattress. He sews and irons, actually saves his ATM receipts (!) and balances his checkbook. He spends really quality time with his son, works about 60 hours a week and on top of all of that, he loves, adores, respects and best of all, honours me like none I have ever known. Honestly, I don't know if I'll be able to keep up with him!

They ARE there, but they are rare, Montana.

I hate to break the mood, but I'm somewhat relieved to hear that he's alright. He hasn't posted since just after New Year's and I thought he might be sick. Did he just get fed up with A2K?

LadyJ
Yes, I agree that they are rare and you are one lucky lady to have found one of them ;-)

I think what gets me so angry about this issue is that these guys feel compelled to tell me these things and expect me to agree with them.

Montana--

The assumption that every woman is a rapt and willing audience just waiting for a chauvenist's words of wisdom is very exasperating.

I'll say!

Oh crap, I know I am going to get heat for this, but I love to iron. I love the way the stuff looks when it's all steamed flat and creased and (get this) I go thru a ton of sizing because it keeps the garment looking crisp longer. I do have to admit that I don't inspect other peoples shirts to determine if they have been ironed or not.

I always had a high degree of energy up until I developed Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. During that time I was virtually useless regarding sharing responsibilities around the house and my husband ran interference. Fortunately I seem to have made a complete recovery and am back ironing and doing all the routine stuff. My husband doesn't shrink from any responsibilities, but since I haven't yet returned to work full time, I usually get things done during the day, so we can both sit and enjoy the evening.

And as we speak, he decided to mop the foyer and clean the downstairs bathrooms so I could play a little on the computer. He also knows how to iron and does so willingly, but I have to admit I'm happier if I get to it first.

His favorite house related issue is the lawn and gardens. He keeps the yard looking sharp and usually that means constant attention for at least 8 months out of the year. Gardening isn't actually my thing, and I really wish I could get more interested.

It's kind of interesting about stereotypes. If you walked into a married couples house and it was dusty and unkempt I think very few people would think the Mr. isn't much of a housekeeper. I'm not saying that it's the way it should be but usually each couple or individual decides what is important to do around the house, and we all have our favorite as well as our most dreaded jobs.

I also was a single Mom for about 4 years and the load can be heavy at times, it's a real challenge. Back then, I couldn't imagine getting involved in another marriage, since the first one turned out so badly. But I got lucky and think we have a pretty good marriage and we have managed for 26 years. Even after all these years, we still have a lot to talk about and I honestly believe we are partners. I know that I would tire of a man who thought in rigid fashion about "tradition roles" for men and women, ESPECIALLY if it meant he gets to sit while I dash around tending to every need. I guess the only advice I have for young couples, is that they better ask about sharing responsibility before they decide to marry or live together. After the fact is not the time for a rude awakening.