1.) Write a post that begins and ends with the same line.
My husband is very helpful.
Sometimes I have to nag to get him to do things that I don’t want to do, but eventually he’ll do it.
I wonder why women get such a bad rap for nagging…it’s only called nagging because it’s a request/suggestion that happens over and over and over again. I use the word “nag” here loosely as I much prefer to consider myself a repetitive “helpful reminder-er” more so than a “nag”.
But you know what? If the task was completed in a timely fashion than the wife wouldn’t have to be a repetitive helpful reminder by asking a second time and therefore would never be considered a nag.
So really it’s the husband that sometimes force us into the position of nagger and the operable word of course is “timely fashion” because what is a “timely fashion” to me is not always what is a “timely fashion” to my husband.
I realized early on that when the task IS finally being completed, it’s best to let the husband do it HIS way instead of standing behind him saying, “why are you doing it like that?”
If you want the task done you need to give up the notion of having it done correctly (your way) and just be happy that you have a helpful husband awake from his nap and that it’s getting done at all.
I never learned this more than on the rare occasions my husband has dressed our children. Clothes I had put in plastic bags for donation would suddenly resurface. My little girls would be tossed into last years Christmas dresses and my little boy would wear my girls pink sweat pants. And I? Would bite my tongue, thank my husband for dressing our children and then trip them into mud puddles so I could put their regular clothes back on them.
All this back story brings us to this past weekend. My husband gave our dog a bath in the master bathtub (thank you!) but the kids bathe in there so I really wanted to make sure it was scrubbed out well before they hopped in later that evening.
I helpfully reminded my husband several times to please clean out the bathtub in a timely fashion before the children needed it.
After too many of my helpful reminders, my husband rolled his eyes…huffed past me…poured cleaner into the tub and started scrubbing.
Except he was scrubbing with my exfoliating brush from the shower. I bit my lips together when I saw my clean brush hit the chemicals of the dog ridden, flea infested bath tub. And he scrubbed and he scrubbed and scrubbed until the tub was sparkling and all the dog, dirt, and fleas were removed.
He looked at me with a “so there! you happy!?!” look on his face and I squeaked out a “thank you”.
My exfoliating brush does not smell like cucumber melon anymore.
My husband is very helpful.
Paula Kiger says
LOL well you can always buy a new exfoliating brush ….. or maybe you can delegate Pat to do it …. I’m sure he’ll get to it post haste!
Kat says
He’d probably come back with a fancy paint brush. ;)
Missy says
Oh Damn. I soooo feel for ya. There is a reason for the saying; If you want something done right….
I don’t have a husband anymore, so all the stuff is now done right!
Kat says
My hat is off to you…because if my husband weren’t here instead of everything done right, I’d be lying on a heap on the floor crying about how nothing gets done at all. I guess you just step up when you have to, but I really like the fact that I have someone else to put my kids to bed.
Nafiseh says
Have you ever tried with home remedies? These are some of them. They may help a lot:-Wash the face twice daily with a tea of cllenduaa-Mix 1 teaspoon lemon juice with 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder. -Apply this paste on the pimples and wash it after 20 minutes with warm water. Repeat for two weeks-Use aloe vera juice on the pimples morning and night for as long as necessary (perhaps five months or longer).-Make orange peel paste by grinding it in some water. Apply on and around pimples.-Rub garlic on and around pimples.-Apply fresh mint juice over the face every night for the treatment of pimples.-Pulverize 1/3 cup uncooked oats and then add bc cup of water. When it becomes the consistency of paste, apply on the pimples. -Apply raw papaya on swelling pimples. -Apply fresh lime juice mixed to a glass of boiled milk as a face wash for pimples.-Mix lime juice and rose water in equal and then apply on affected area. Wash it off after 20-30 minutes with only water.-Apply tomatoes pulp on pimples and kept up to 1 hour then wash. -Make a pastof one cucumber and a carrot, and then mix with 1/4 cup oatmeal cooked and 1/2 cup of milk. Wash it off after 15 minutes. -Mix a teaspoonful of coriander juice with a pinch of turmeric powder. Apply to the face after thoroughly washing it, every night before retiring. -Beat one egg white and apply it on the face for 20 minutes and then rinse with cold water. -Rub an ice cube on the affected area if a pimple to break out on the face.
Sue says
Tripping your Cherubs into mud puddles. Heh.
And your poor, poor, non-cucumber scented exfoliating scrub. May it rest in peace (pieces).
Xiomara Maldonado says
Oh my gosh! Your poor non-cucumber smelling exfoliating brush! Stuff like this happens all the time with my boyfriend and me. I hate having to nag almost as much as he hates nagging… but how else will stuff get done? I’ve also learned not to complain about the way he’s doing it when he finally does… otherwise, he never wants to do it again. Like that time, I told him to fold smaller, and he huffed and puffed and ran away and now refuses to fold anything because he feels like he’s going to fail at it.
Kat says
Yes! And I’m not convinced that they’re poor performance isn’t something they actually plan so that we won’t ask them to do it again. They’re just trying to get out of ever doing the tasks again!
Ginny Marie says
Oh, no, your poor brush! And cucumber melon is such a nice scent. :(
Tiffany says
EEEWWW!!!! But I love that picture!! My husband is SO helpful too. ;)
Meg says
Hilarious! On a side note, for some reason my linky posted 4 times…not an over-sharer, I swear, I really don’t know why it posted multiple times!
Kat says
I gotcher back!
Frelle says
You’ve been able to extend a lot of grace to him, and find gratitude where a lot of women might get angry or worse. I loved reading about this, especially being able to see him happily scrubbing with your exfoliating brush :)
Kat says
Haha! I wonder if he totally planned that and just played it off like, “what?? You said you wanted it scrubbed right??”…I think he really thought it was a fine cleaning brush (it is NOW).
Jennifer says
Oh good, so they’re all like this? My take on this behavior is….if they screw it up royally enough then you won’t ask them to do it again. But you did the right thing. Their plot is foiled if you pretend not to notice and make them your knight in shining armor. ONe night I asked my hubs to get some ashes out of the fireplace so we could build a better fire. When I return from the shower he has the shop vac and is just sucking up the last flake of dust from the spotless brick. Like you could roll biscuits under the grate?! WTF! I just called him is OCD momma’s name and walked away. Bad decision. All things fireplace related are now my job :)
Kat says
Oh my gosh, see it’s times like that where it’s just too painful to keep your mouth shut. Sometimes the sarcastic (or true) little quips are very necessary…but I agree, it makes US look like the bad guy.
Dana says
You showed much more restraint than I would have. I could totally relate to your story, right up to when you said “my husband gave the dog a bath.” Linking up for the first time today!
Crista says
I wanted my husband to do the dishes for once, I was so annoyed for having to do all the housework. He finally did…well…kinda…you could see that he missed some spots on the dishes that were so obvious not to miss. I think he did that on purpose because I had to re-wash the dishes again.
Husbands…
Kat says
Oh talk about flipping the script, my husband DOES do the dishes (thank you God!) AND…he complains about how *I* load it!! Hahaha…I don’t bother walking him through my (better) process because if this is where he wants to shine then so be it! I’ll gladly be the “bad” loader…even though I’m not.
Crista says
Unfortunately we don’t have a dishwasher *pout* I think he may do them when we move to a place that has one.
Kat says
Ohhh dear, yeah that’s where the dish washing duties would stop for us. If we didn’t have a dishwasher we would stare at each other and be all, “well now what?” and would probably eat from plastic plates forever. ;)
Carrie says
Oh my…I am so happy my husband gets a little weird about cleaning…as in, he does it cause dirt bugs him :)
We JUST redid our main bathroom with a GORGEOUS tub…I’m hoping everyone takes turns scrubbing that baby :)
Miriam Gomberg says
Did you use the exfoliating brush again? My husband can be helpful with laundry. Recently, he washed my cashmere sweater and just to make sure it was clean and dry, it was washed in hot water and dried the same way. Now I have a beautiful sweater for my dog Daisy :D
Kat says
Heck no I didn’t use it again…does Daisy need a scrubber?
Miriam Gomberg says
Whew! I was just checking. Daisy would love a scrubber. She likes baths, back and tummy rubs as well.
tammigirl says
I would write such a post (oh, honey, I could write a book – which I happen to say often in this place, by the way) but I can’t. I mean to say; my husband would be appalled. No, really. One time I mentioned in a blog post some clothing on the floor and he kindly asked me to remove it. If he ever sees this comment on your blog – he would kindly ask me to remove it, too!
We all have our quirks, I guess. I kindly ask him all the time to not discuss my personal medical situations with his (doctor) brothers.
Kat says
My man is a pretty good sport with this blogging thing. He’s super private so when I write about him it’s more to poke fun at silly quirks a lot of wives can probably relate to…but I think he’d have a major problem if I was writing about a real argument. I also try not to make him sound like “the bad guy” and beat up on him. I’m super self deprecating. That helps.
Maybe next time you want to vent about your husband’s clothes on the floor you can say something like, “Ugh! My husband leaves his clothes on the floor all the time, but I’m terrible at crossword puzzles so I guess we’re even…”
April says
This is one of your best ones yet girl! And … sigh… I hate HATE *HAAAAATE* that I can relate to this one…
May says
I promise I am not laughing AT you. I am laughing the laughter of sisterhood. It is a unifying laughter that encircles all women married to men who help, and it is the only thing that keeps us sane!
Jessica says
Oh my this is my life! He tries so I keep my mouth shut about the way it gets done. Especially folding clothes!! I hate how he does it but appreciate the help too much to comment. Ha!
jamie@southmainmuse says
Ouch. That’s hurts. I think you are due a new brush. But you were right not to make a big deal about it. You can just get a more expensive brush.
Jen says
Oh. My. Word…. Husbands! ;-)
Janice says
I love the ending – how he was all like , “there, are ya happy now?” Hahaha! I was totally rotfl. Thanks for the good humor. Made me smie. :-)
Aimee Giese | Greeblemonkey says
You know this but I love you.
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You know this but I love you.
Mama Kat says
I like what you did right there!
Taking the prompt, making it your own and tying it into a comment.
Really beautiful.
I like what you did right there.
PorkStar says
In my case, when I had a wife, it was the other way around. And asking her to pick up her clothes was like asking her to build a nuclear reactor.
Andrea says
ARRGH~!
It’s so wrong that this post made me angry on your behalf, as I’m sure your husband is a lovely man, but because it sounds like exactly the thing my own would do, and oh, the injustice of it all. Why can’t they do things our way and our way only?
Clearly I need to lighten up on my control issues.
Kristen R. says
Those brushes are not cheap! But I guess it’s all the same to guys. It’s really hard not to tell my husband the correct way of doing things. Luckily, we don’t own enough nice things for him to ruin by doing things “the wrong way”. :)
Jennifer says
Love this prompt! My husband is very helpful because he’s a saint (despite the fact that he is not religious in the least). He took care of our kids last weekend so that I could attend a writer’s retreat. THAT is true love, Mama Kat. ;)
Tracy P. says
Kat+Pat=forever
I love that you get your part in this. Wish I could state that in a clever comment as subtly and clearly as you put it into this post. But that would take more time than I’m willing to give it. Priceless picture. Need to frame a copy for each of your children when they leave home. :-)