PDA

View Full Version : am i the only one???



KelEMcE
03-22-2008, 05:43 PM
I don't know if this is the right place for this post, but here goes...

Why is it that we are expected to understand and meet everyone else's needs, without even being told what those needs are, but no one figures out what we need?

I feel like my kids' needs are constant, 24/7, because they've been sick for a week now, with the whining and neediness and clinginess that goes along with being sick and being 3 and 6 - and I am so sick of it I could just scream! Add in my husband, who just got home from a SIX WEEK LONG business trip (yep, 6 weeks with no break, SAHM, kids aren't in school)

Last night, I walked into the family room and started asking my husband a question. This usually thoughful man interrupted me to ask me to bring him a glass of water. What? Are you kidding me? He didn't even notice he'd done it until I pointed it out. Yes, he apologized, but it shouldn't have happened at all!

Today, after spending three hours at the ballet studio today with the girls, I came home and made lunch, played, read, did crafts, set out Easter baskets, cleaned bathrooms, vacuumed, made cookies. He went to Home Depot (alone, because by then the kids were in the tub). When he got home, without listening to hear what was going on, he started calling to me from the mud room - "where's the cat, there's food on the counter, is he getting into it, the cat can't be in the basement because I'm painting", etc - all the while, the kids were screaming at each other about the bathtub toys, I was on the phone and trying to pull sheets off the bed where the cat had gotten his poopy bum (he's too fat to clean it properly), and had left food on the counter because I was making dinner while doing 24 other things - like moms do. And that was the straw that broke the camel's back - walking in and calling for me without even knowing what was going on!!!!!

Then when I pointed out how frustrating it is to be putting out fires all over the place and then having him add to the chaos by shouting up the stairs about the cat (which, by the way, I see why my mom didn't like pets. I LOVED pets before I had kids, but this one came after the kids, and he's so not on my list of priorities), who I certainly would not have put in the basement while he was PAINTING down there (what, am I a masochist? why would I want a paint-y cat???) I got the standard guy apology:

"I am sorry it was frustrating for you, honey. You seem stressed. Figure out what you need and let me know."

ARRGGGHHH!

Am I the only one? I sometimes wish I had boys so I could teach them to apologize properly: "I was a jerk, honey. I'm sorry. You work so hard! How can I make it up to you?"

Thanks for letting me vent. Now I can go finish cooking dinner, filling Easter eggs, cleaning out cabinets and closets because we are moving...and maybe NOT smack my husband!

BTW, he's downstairs wiping the cat's bum and scooping the litter box. Maybe that's even better than an apology...

myboysmom
03-22-2008, 06:08 PM
LOL Yeah, but he might deserve the smack anyway. :) I'm hoping it's just the season, b/c my life has been that hectic too! Both boys were sick all week last week. I feel so out of it. I haven't done the dishes for 2 days, haven't colored eggs with my boys yet (And I LOVE holidays!). I barely had the motivation to take them to the local egg hunt this morning, but I did. And am so glad I did. Of course, it doesn't help that we are gutting/renovating a huge farm house and trying to move into it by the end of the year, but my husband is generally MIA. It's just a bad patch, right?

mom1931
03-22-2008, 07:32 PM
I know how it is when you get that kinda reply. I would say at least He realizes and apologizes...some of us here are not that lucky too! I never really heard my DH doing that. Even if he does that he would make me believe that its all my fault ultimately !!!!

My kids are still too young for all kinds of stuff you and your kids are involved in and I guess I dont do half the things u do. Your family should feel really proud having u.. You are doing a great job!!!

Oh yea..I would agree abt ideas/actions going un noticed sometimes... its the same scenario in my house too. You can get a glimpse of what am talking abt in the post below yours!! (post : for stay at home moms..) I would say thats the way "They" are and thats how we are....so nice and so forgiving :-)

Am glad for joining this community....its a great way of telling/sharing that we are there for one other :-) so I HEAR u :-)

newmommy1211
03-23-2008, 11:53 PM
Wow, I feel like a woose now! I only have one child and I feel like my life is out of control! I can only imagine all you go through! It sounds like you are doing a great job and trying to be SuperMom of the Year. But seriously, most if not all moms feel this way. We wish our husbands could read our minds. We wish they would just volunteer to do stuff instead of us having to ask them to do it. As women, we try to juggle way too much - being the perfect mom, the perfect wife, the perfect employee. Often times, something's gotta give.

My advice to you - stop trying to do everything. Delegate some of the chores to your husband and even your kids. Hey, 3 and 6 year olds can still help around the house. Communicate with your husband. Don't assume. For example, I was getting pissed at my husband each night because he would just watch TV or play computer games while I ran around doing the dinner dishes, clean, laundry, etc. When he was finally observant enough to realize that I was mad, he would ask what was wrong, which I would say that there was still so much to do before I could go to bed. "What needs to be done?" was the standard reply. Never mind that the garbage was overflowing, the bottles need washing, our son is crying for his bottle. After I realized I could not assume that he could see (apparently, what husbands and wives see are different), I wrote down a list of things that need to be taken care of that night on a dry eraser board. That way, I don't have to be mad about asking him to do them, he just does them.

And as far as his reply of "Figure out what you need and let me know." I would suggest you let him know. Once again, in a perfect world, our husbands would just know what we need. But we don't and according to my husband, they really are that clueless! Good luck!

Krista
03-24-2008, 01:24 PM
I agree completely. My husband has two college degrees and holds an executive position at a major university. He can do complex math in his head yet has complete mental block when walking past a sink full of dirty dishes or a basket full of clean laundry begging to be put away.

We also use a noteboard in the kitchen and his "chores" get done as soon as he gets home. Another bonus was our dishwasher breaking...believe it or not. What began as a 'helping dry' chore has become our nightly time to chat over the dinner dishes :)