Cleaning house.... literally!

[Pete]

I was brought up in an era when it was the mans job to make a living and the wife's job to run the house. Most men in the 1950's and 1960's were not concerned with cooking meals, making lunches or shopping and cleaning their home....... little did we know that that lack of experience would one day come home to roost with a vengeance.

​

Except for when I was on strike or laid off I worked almost every day of my married life and for half a decade held two jobs at the same time so is it any wonder I never understood what was entailed in taking care of a home. Sure for most of my 29 years of married life, except when I was in the Army, I had a 'honey-do' list on our refrigerator but this was for repair jobs and major projects only and the taking care of the house was the domain of my wife, unfortunately now I have switched rolls and must do all that my wife did for so many years. Its a little late but now I understand that a woman's job at home was not one of sitting all day in front of the TV and there are days now that I get frustrated at all the cleaning needed to maintain even this small apartment.



You might ask what did I do for 20 years living alone in Alaska.... well for four of those years I had an apartment in Fairbanks and only worried about cleaning it right before I moved so I could get my deposit back. The next 14 years living in my remote cabin saw little of me even thinking about cleaning the place. Maybe once a year I would sweep the floor and every five years or so dust a little but other than washing the windows so I could see if a bear was around I never bothered to clean.

It just goes to show you
that many of us take what our loved ones
do for us
for granted
​

 

[Ruth n Jersey]

This is so true Pete and for many women we wouldn't have a house to clean or food to cook if the men weren't out there working. It does work both ways. These days many women work outside the home on a full time basis and in that case I think all the work should be shared. I have noticed and talking with other women I know, men don't seem to know when something needs to be cleaned or how to do it. Not out of laziness but they are missing something in their genes I think. If I ask my hubby to please vacuum the living room he thinks the room is round and has no idea what to do about the corners. If something spills he dances around it with 4 rolls of paper towels not having the slightest idea of how to tackle the problem. I saw him kill a fly on the inside of our window and leave the bug juice on the window. It would never occur to him to grab the Windex and clean it off. He just didn't see it.
i

 

[Mike]

I had a different and very good education in
Scotland, the secondary school that I went
to gave me classes in:
Cooking, Sewing, Kniting and cleaning as well
as Woodwork and Metalwork.

None of the girls got the wood or metalwork,
but the boys had no choice about the rest.

Mike.

 

[Mizzkitt]

My husband was raised in Finland and learned to crochet, basic sewing, cooking and the girls took woodwork, auto repair. And this was over 60 years ago. The Scandinavians were equal opportunists when it came to education.

p.s. - I needed doilies, he did not want to show his talents

 

[Aunt Bea]

I've never been a fan of housework but I always enjoyed the daily chores of camp life.

 

[Ruthanne]

Now a days, as many women work they are very happy to share the housework with the significant other. I don't particularly like to clean either, Pete, and my place is sort of dusty right now. I can't stand doing it much of the time but I do like vacuuming. I have a big duster thingy I swirl around on the tables and chairs when I feel to.

 

[Pete]

Maybe it is just a male thing but other than running the sweeper on the hardwood floors I can not get motivated to clean.

 

[Pete]

Tmen don't seem to know when something needs to be cleaned

Yes I am sure it is an observational trait in men to tend to be oblivious to "dirt" or things that need to be cleaned because going back to the beginning of time a man's job was to ensure food and safety for himself and those he lived with. I also had not intention of saying a woman shouldn't work it is just I was borne into a time when I was told it is a mans job to work and a women's to take care of the home.

 

[Sunny]

After my husband passed away, I had the opposite experience: learning to do all the "male" jobs that he had always done. Such things as automobile maintenance, small household repairs, figuring out the taxes, financial investments, etc. It does work both ways, or at least did for my generation.

I think young people are less rigid about "his" and "her" jobs. They certainly share more of the baby and child care functions than used to be the case, and men do more cooking than they used to. As far as cleaning goes, that's probably done by whichever one is bothered by the dirt.

So when people are (inevitably) living alone, after many years of being half of a couple, they are probably more skilled in a variety of tasks than they used to be.