Husbands create 7 hours of extra housework a week (I bet they do it on purpose to!)

[ZombieHorde]

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - For married women who can't figure out why they always have so much housework researchers may have the answer -- husbands.

A new study from the University of Michigan shows that having a husband creates an extra seven hours of extra housework a week for women. But a wife saves her husband from an hour of chores around the house each week.

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Link -
http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSN0441782220080404

[Donkeykick]

1. Does it increase if...

you're a single male? :rofl:

[Cerridwen]

2. Water is wet.

News at 11.

[Kitty Herder]

11. lol Well said. nt

[Cerridwen]

22. :D Thank you. n/t

[Rage for Order]

3. I saw that article

What complete, unmitigated bullshit. Unless, of course, one assumes that women do all of the housework. I'll admit that my wife does more housework than I do, but I also do all of the yardwork, garbage, recycling, scooping/changing of cat litter, handyman-type chores, and car maintenance, as well as assisting with cooking, laundry, dishes, and other housework that "only women do". Marriage is a partnership, and people will find the balance of chores that works best for them.

[sandnsea]

7. Unless your wife is throwing her panties on the lawn

You missed the point.

[Cleita]

8. True, but when you find you are sitting and relaxing after your

chores are done and she's still working, I think it tells the story that you aren't pulling your weight. btw I will do the yard any day if you need help to get to the point where you can sit and relax.

A lot of housework is really not making a mess to begin with. That is pick up after yourselves and clean up small messes you make. It goes a long way in helping the person who shoulders the burden of the majority of the housecleaning.

[sandnsea]

10. The oven, the fridge, windows, walls

That's housework. Picking up the newspaper, clothes, dishes, that's, well, something else entirely.

[Cleita]

12. Really?

After doing housework for fifty years, I find you have to do those things before you can do the fridge, windows, walls, and floors etc..

[sandnsea]

13. Yeah, but you shouldn't have to n/t

[Cleita]

17. I agree. n/t

[appleannie1]

42. Then pick up the newspaper, clothes, dishes and the rest, since it is not classed as work.

[sandnsea]

46. Yes people should pick up after themselves

because there are many other things that need to be done in a house besides being somebody's personal maid.

[knitter4democracy]

36. My hubby has pretty much the same list.

I end up doing half of each job, if not more. If he doesn't feel like doing it right then, even if it needs to be done, it's considered optional. His job isn't optional, but everything at home apparently is. It's quite annoying.

It's like grilling. If the wife does all the chopping, marinating, parboiling, and gets all of the sides and fixings ready, why does the man say he made dinner? I've seen Hubby and his dad both do this--they put the stuff on the grill while I and my MIL act like assistants and bring things in and out for them and get all of the rest of dinner ready, but somehow that translates into they made dinner, even though they did a very small portion of the work.

[seabeyond]

40. ya.... further, we both take care of each other, both respectful, dont need a list of

who does what and doesnt. my husband balls his socks when he takes them off and i have to unball them to wash
big fuckin deal

he also gets the socks into basket and rest of laundry and picks up after himself and is a kick ass cook

just enough of creating them against us.... huh

right there with you

all is fine

[appleannie1]

41. If that is true, you are a gem. Mine's like that but he is rare too.

Around here most women run the yard tractors, take out and burn the gabage, along with everything else. Men go to bars or go hunting or fishing.

[treestar]

50. Use of the word "assist" shows whose job it really is

[lame54]

4. Ain't it the life?...

[Eric J in MN]

31. LOL. NT

NT

[Cleita]

5. I believe it. One of the

things that caused no end of fights when I first got married was the extra work. I noticed that my husband felt no need to keep things clean during the week so that weekend cleanup wasn't so time consuming. He thought nothing of spilling stuff on the floor and leaving it there. He never thought that helping me make the bed was his job even though he slept in it, or picking up his dishes to put in the sink. He would do the dishes if I scraped them for him. Otherwise they all went in the sink soapy water with food and napkins stuck on them causing clogged drains. He would help me at the laundromat but wouldn't help me fold. The concept that folding would make less ironing down the line eluded him.

I blame it on his mother. She never taught him to do housework like his sisters. I can probably say that most men have been equally not trained at home. Pitching in to have a clean place to come home to is the duty of everyone in the household, especially with working wives, but when you get one that wasn't housebroken by his mother it's a long road uphill to train them.

[sandnsea]

9. As the mother of 3 sons

I have to tell you, they're just friggin' hopeless. The ability to act like an idiot in front of your wife must be something they teach in the locker room. Mothers sure as hell don't put up with it, at least not this one.

[Cleita]

15. I'm glad you don't and I hope your future daughters-in-law

don't either.

[zanne]

38. I agree. I don't think that helping out with housework is stressed enough.

When boys are growing up, alot of mothers don't require them to do any housework. They might have to take out the garbage or mow the lawn, but aside from that, they're trained to be waited on. It makes for alot of resentment in their future relationships.

[angstlessk]

47. My mother had only two girls and she would tell ME to get up and get HIM a snack

for what reason I never could figure out..I would answer, why? are his legs broken?

[MuseRider]

20. I trained my two sons

so they would be OK on their own and be able to shoulder their weight in a relationship. I asked them to do something simple like please turn your underwear right side out before you put it in the hamper (throw on the floor) and when they did not I quit doing their laundry. They had to learn that and they had to learn the lesson that when someone else is doing your stuff you make it as easy as you can for them.

My husband does his own too. I could take no more of a grown man running naked down the stairs screaming "I have no clean underwear!" LOL, been busy dear, if you had told me you were getting low I might have squeezed in a load but.....

[cyberpj]

26. Oh dear....

kind of an unfortunate turn of a phrase when talking about husbands..

"if you had told me you were getting low I might have squeezed in a load but....."

Sorry.

It probably has something to do with my own personal state of mind right now.

:rofl:

[MuseRider]

28. hee hee

Purely unintentional.

[pengillian101]

49. Thanks for the chuckle! n /t

[appleannie1]

44. My son is what I call anal when it comes to being clean. He goes way beyond what I taught him.

You could even eat off the garage floor and his tools all look brand new even though they are used on a regular basis. I helped him and his wife move once. While she was laundering every piece of clothes they owned since they had been packed in boxes, he was washing every dish they owned since they too had been packed.

[Maine-ah]

lol, the one thing I am seriously thankful for that my MIL taught

my husband.....keeping the toilet seat down.

[Maine-ah]

23. delete

dupe

[LWolf]

32. My adult sons know how to clean up after themselves,

and do so, or it doesn't get done. Sometimes it doesn't get done. ;)

Growing up with a single working mom, they pulled their weight. Period. I was extremely hard-nosed about taking care of business. Some would say TOO hard-nosed; sometimes I look at other kids and feel bad. Still, it worked. We were relatively clean and organized, and as adults they both know how to do everything for themselves, and make their own choices about the level of disarray they are willing to tolerate.

[Fuzz]

6. I'm a stay at home Dad with two daughters

How much extra time do you think those three are costing me each week?

;)

[Kitty Herder]

14. Are you comparing husbands to children?

Some certainly act like it, but still.

[Fuzz]

18. Oh, I'm childish

but I can only speak for me. :)

[L. Coyote]

16. I guess this does not include the 20 years of work from getting pregnant.

[Hekate]

19. Sorry guys, I'm actually LOL. Around here we call it "winning through incompetence"....

:rofl: I must be getting old -- the back and forth here is actually making me laugh. It's a nice change (so far) from GD:P where I stepped in unwarily awhile ago, and am still scraping my shoes off.

Thanks for the amusement. I love me my Mr. H, but housework is not his --- sorry, I'm laughing again. Sometimes it's good to be old lovers and just roll my eyes.

Hekate

[MuseRider]

21. "winning through incompetence"

no shit!

When a load of dishes is emptied on the counter because he doesn't know my "arcane" placement of items after 20 years in the same place I guess that is exactly what that is! And this man passed his Medical Boards!

[eleny]

24. I just came in from cleaning the irrigation ditch in the yard!

Helping hubby clear leaves and debris from the ditch before the water starts running. Hmmmm....

[demigoddess]

25. It is not their fault!!! They are straight!!!! They can't help it!!!!

I keep seeing these homes of gay men on tv. They are all neat as a pin, nicely designed , beautiful, with electronics hidden behind beautiful carpentry.
Straight men like their toys right out in public, parked on the front lawn, even if they do not run. You know, boats, rvs and old cars. All you have to do is look out my front window to see all my neighbors are straight men.
They also have a similar problem in the house. My husband will plug in stuff and run the cords all over a room and leave it there for a week or two, and I can't say anything because it is for the office. And we have computers in the corners of almost every room including the office, and the computer room.
Question to other wives--- Why can't it all go in one room??????HUH?????? If I left my makeup or something all over like that it would be considered messy!!!!

[Toasterlad]

51. If You Looked at My House, You'd Think I Was Straight, Too.

I'm an unrepentant slob, but since I live alone, no one else has to suffer. Yet two of my straight friends are a couple of the most anal, clean-freak humans on the planet. One puts on rubber gloves to wash the dishes. RUBBER. GLOVES. And my brother-in-law can't go to sleep without running the vacuum if they've had company that day...be it one person or 50.

Not all gay men are neat and clean, and not all straight men are filthy pigs. Hear endeth the lesson.

[The Straight Story]

27. Wives create an additional $50,000 a year in bills

:rofl:

Sorry, couldn't resist :)

[Cleita]

45. So how much would it cost you to hire a cleaning service,

eat in restaurants and send your laundry out, in a year, if you don't have a wife?

[jesus_of_suburbia]

29. Single straight women: room with a gay man. he will clean EVERYTHING FOR YOU!

I LOVE TO CLEAN... seriously. Dishes, cooking, vaccuming, dusting, scrubbing... I PREFER to do it.. because I want it done my way (perfectly, lol).

I also love to do yardwork (mowing, gardening, etc...)


Don't ask me to fix your car though. That holds NO interest for me.

I can change your oil though!


Oh, I must warn you though that many gay men will bitch about it behind your back. Not me though, I love to do it.

[Toasterlad]

52. C'mon Over. My Kitchen Floor Hasn't Been Scrubbed in a Year.

[kestrel91316]

30. My DBIL is perfect in nearly every way for my DSis, but after they had been

married about 8 or 10 years she did complain to me that Tim was always in the habit of leaving his dirty clothes (or maybe just socks) laying around. He's the family cook, and changed just as many diapers over the years as my sister did, but those DAMNED clothes on the floor, lol.

Not sure how that eventually worked out. They are still very happily married after 26 years and the kids grew up very self-sufficient and not slobs. So I guess at some point she must have laid down the law with him and the retraining stuck.

In the kitchen, here's the deal: he cooks, she cleans up. But if she's not around to clean up he does just fine at it.

[Fumesucker]

33. LOL.. It works both ways..

Before we ever even got married (thirty years ago) I was doing the maintenance and repair on my wife's car, neither of us had much money, come to think of it we still don't.

One Spring I had to put a clutch in her car because she WOULD NOT go out and warm it up for two minutes in the wintertime, she rushed out at the last possible instant every day, started the engine and slipped the clutch for a couple of miles on her way to work/school.

Thirty plus years later I'm glad that, thanks to electronic fuel injection, you don't have to warm up modern cars because I would still be putting a clutch in every Spring.

For those of you who don't know, putting a clutch in a car is a nasty, involved and possibly even dangerous job if you aren't a professional mechanic with access to all the right equipment.

If one of us cooks, the other cleans.. When I cook I try to make the minimum number of utensils dirty as possible.. I know my wife doesn't deliberately make every single utensil in the kitchen dirty but it sure feels that way sometimes.

[Mugu]

39. My ladyfriend seems to think that 3 tablespoons of something

requires 3 separate spoons. Same with cups or whatever. If she does the cooking the kitchen looks like a war zone. When she clears the table she stacks dirty dishes on top of each other so both sides are dirty. It's easier if I clear the table myself. And don't even get me started about separating laundry.

Regards, Mugu

Edit to add: She doesn't just do this at my house, it's the same thing when she's at home.

[Speck Tater]

34. Bill better stay at a hotel. Hillary could use those 7 hours to campaign. NT

[knitter4democracy]

35. I save mine a lot more than an hour, that's for sure.

I'm the stay-at-home-mom. Hubby's "supposed" to (from an agreement years ago) gather up and take out the trash, do the kitty litter box every couple of days, get his own dirty clothes to the laundry and help carry stuff down and up the stairs (broken rib right now but had surgery enough that it can hurt, so he helps carry), help with laundry when he can, cook when he can, and do the dishes most of the time.

Let's see, this week, I gathered up all of the trash since he didn't, I did the kitty litter the last few times, he has gotten his dirty clothes in the hamper but hasn't carried down the hamper even though I've asked, he hasn't helped with laundry at all in weeks, I've been doing all of the cooking, and last night was the first time he'd done dishes in days. Those are just his chores. I do all the rest, though he did help me outside today.

He works really long hours, and when he's on-call, it's really hard for him to get anything done. I get that. I do get tired of covering for him all the time, though. I've tried not doing it, but since he's not home to deal with it, it just makes my job harder and much, much worse.

Now, I'm going to go wash the kitchen rugs, sweep, and mop the floor. Then, I have the counters to wipe down, laundry to get started, and vacuuming to do--while he's out golfing to deal with his stress. At least I had Mom watch the kids yesterday so I could run some errands and get the day off. :eyes:

[AzDar]

37. My Husband of 13 years actually helps a great deal around the house.

Too bad he is also sucking the life right out of me.:rofl:

[spinbaby]

43. How come I don't have any clean shirts?

Because there's two shirts hanging on the dining room chairs, one on a stool in the kitchen, three more in your office, one on your chair in the living room, and more on the floor upstairs. If they don't make it to the laundry, I don't wash them.

[appleannie1]

48. Don't gripe. I've a friend who's husband 'helped' by putting the kitchen cupboards in alphabetical

order. Bananas to left of beans, to the left of bowls and so on.

[GOPBasher]

53. I love this fucking shit. I'm a husband, and I DO the housecleaning.

And my wife, while having many great qualities, is not known for her cleanliness. I love how everyone assumes the wife must be doing all the fucking housework.

There was another study that showed that "Motherhood is worth $110,000/yr" if the mothers got paid for that work. Would it have killed them to say, "parenthood," rather than "motherhood," since I do half of the work with the kids.

I get a little pissed about this shit.

[seabeyond]

54. i could understand you getting so pissed. i am stay at home and dont

do lots of cleaning. i mean some. and i do the laundry. and i do cook. and all the stuff with kids, .... but cleaning, eeeew. lol lol. and my hubby loves me anyway

i hear ya getting pissed at this

[GOPBasher]

55. Thanks. :-)

I don't think my fellow DUers are making these assumptions. It's just the people who write those articles. :-)