Fill the ice cube box, not to mention the equally difficult and time-consuming task of re-filling the trays with water.
Change the toilet role when it’s empty instead of getting a new role out, using some, and then leaving it sitting on the counter directly above the empty spindle.
Turn off lights in empty rooms.
Take the jam-packed, overflowing kitchen garbage out to the garage.
Remove items from the fridge that are obviously well past the edible date. (Cranberry sauce and gravy from Christmas last night, for example.)
Clean the toilets!
Clean the bath/shower!
I guess I can excuse the kids at 6 and 8 years old from some of these tasks, but there’s no excuse for my stay-at-home wife. (In more ways than one.)
Frankly, I’m inclined to think of the toilet as a single-purpose device. What other roles do you have in mind for it? Fondue pot? Goldfish bowl? Rice steamer?
My husband puts the empty ice cube trays in the sink with the dirty dishes. For eleven years now (nearly twelve), I’ve been telling him those don’t get washed. Well, they do after they’ve been dumped in with dirty dinner dishes, but that’s beside the point.
Rinse and refill, put back in the freezer. It’s really quite simple. Or so one would think.
No kidding. How hard is it to pop the spindle off, dump the cardboard roll in the trashcan, put the new roll on and pop the spindle back on?
I’m convinced everyone else in the house is involved in some secrect game of, “Let’s See If We Can Fit ‘Just One More Thing’ In the Trashcan!”
But that’s, like, *four * steps!! I still regret buying the paper towel holder I did because it requires unscrewing the one end, pulling out the rod, switching paper and rescrewing the end. Oh, the tedium.
I never understood my friend who had washer/dryer right in the kitchen and still didn’t wash the clothes that were piling up. I feel like if I ever have laundry facilities at home, I’ll be washing clean stuff just for the sheer convenience of it.
Whilst all members of my household appear capable of changing the toilet roll, I appear to be the only one capable of putting the empty roll in the bin.
We have self-cleaning toilets. Not technically SELF-cleaning, but there’s really nothing to it. All I do is, while taking a wizz, make sure I hit any little cruddy parts I see hanging to the side of the bowl. Hit 'em right, and they wash right off!
I’ve discovered a method of cleaning the bath/shower:
– Don’t do anything for two years. Let liberal layer of dirt and soap scum ensue.
– Coat entire scum-encrusted area with Drano Gel. Let sit for 15 minutes.
– Rinse clean!
(What do you mean by “should not be used contrary to labeling”? )
I hardly ever really scrub my bathroom clean the way my girlfriend likes it. She refers to it as “guy clean”. She got so fed up with it Saturday that she cleaned it for me. I said, “I only want you to be happy, baby. And if cleaning my dirty, disgusting, filthy bathroom for me makes you happy, then far be it from me to stand in your way.”
Well, it could be worse, I don’t have anyone in my house capable of doing those things. The ice cube trays are left empty atop the freezer, all beverages are stored in the frige or consumed at ambient temperature. The toilet paper roll never gets changed, there is an empty one on the holder, empty ones on the floor for the cat, and one in use on the counter. The garbage stacks until the smell is too much to bear and then piled into several garbage bags and hauled to the dumpster. Sometimes I have to take out the trash, refill the trash can and take out the trash again. I have milk in the frige that expired before Christmas and a potato soup from late summer. I’m afraid of it. Finally, and this is the one that pisses me off the most, putting the clean dishes in the dishwasher away is apparently to complicated for all the residents of my place.
Have I ever mentioned that I live alone with a cat?
As long as I know where the toilet paper is, why should I put it on that holder? I’m just going to have to do it again in a few days.
As far as washing the tub, it gets filled with soapy water every time I take a shower. What other cleaning does it need? “Oh my, this container was full of soap. I’d better put some soap in it again.” Come on!
I can’t tell you how much tupperware I’ve thrown out rather than open it and find out that the furry stuff inside has also grown teeth.
In addition to dealing with the trash, fridge, and bathroom situations, I’m also the only person in my house capable of recognizing that any given surface can only hold so much crap, and some of it must now be moved to where it actually belongs. Which is often in the trash. An issue of Twist with two thirds of the pages ripped out is not something to be saved for posterity.
Have I mentioned that I live with a fourteen year old?
I, too, am the only one in my house who can do any of the things mentioned in the OP—since I can’t convince either of the cats to lift a finger to help me.
I’m trying to decide which of the following lessons should be drawn from this thread:[list=a]
[li]That the vast majority of the cleaning in any household tends to be done by the person with the lowest tolerance for filth.[/li][li]That everyone should have the experience of living alone for at least a little while, to get them into the habit of thinking that if they make a mess, they’re the one who’s going to have to clean it up.[/li][li]That before marrying or otherwise entering into a domestic partnership with someone, one should find out the level of cleanliness and order they consider standard.[/li][/list]
This is actually a really important thing to ponder. I do more cleaning becaues I care more whether or not things are clean than do others in the house. To even the workload, we have to figure out things the hub can do which will contribute as much, but not involve much cleaning.
I mean, if he doesn’t care whether or not it’s clean, my bitching at him to help isn’t going to make him any happier about doing it. May as well try to work WITH it.
A note: None of this applies to dependent children. When they have their own places, they’re welcome to trash them.
Oh, yes, all of the above, except for the toilet. Neither of us are stay-at-home. I have told him flat-out from Day 1 that I consider the toilet to be a man’s job, and he’s old-fashioned and agrees. I know it’s sexist, but I do a LOT of the other stuff.
Add to this list:
Use up the last bit of lemonade, or iced tea, and then MAKE MORE. Or at least tell me! Don’t put the last smidge back in.
And I don’t need you to put the toilet paper back on the roll. Just take it out of the freakin’ cabinet, since I’ve told you time and time again it’s really hard for me to reach inside the cabinet when I’m sitting. My arms are shorter than yours!
I have two really wonderful friends. I love them dearly. However, they are the two biggest, filthiest slobs to ever exist. There house is not so much unsanitary (they do occasionally clean the kitchen and bathroom) as it is dust/crud infested. I mean I want to give them a gift certificate from Stanley Steemer everytime I see the carpet in their living and dining room. I take a shower immediately upon returning home from their house everytime. Hell, sometimes I remove my clothes in the garage before even entering my house after being over there. Yet, they’d do anything to help anybody. Oh well, they are good-hearted, wonderful people so I overlook the slobiness, but, YIKES!, I feel like I want to take a deep breath and hold it the whole time I’m there. Needless to say visits to their house are few and far between as most of our socializing together is either at my house or other places. There’s an empty tp roll on their toilet dispenser that’s been there Og knows how long. However, there’s always two or three rolls of tp sitting on the back of the toilet, so at least they understand the importance of having plenty of tp available.
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