25.1.11

You don't CLEAN, you CLEAN UP.

First, let me preface this by saying I am 100% appreciative of everything my husband does. He is usually the one to cook dinner and go grocery shopping and I am very grateful to have dinner ready (or almost ready) when I get home from work. If I’m working through dinner, which I usually am, he will bring my dishes out to the kitchen and load them in the dish washer when we are done.



So here comes the gripe, he always tells people that he is the one that cleans, and that he is always picking up after me.
But darling, you don’t CLEAN, you CLEAN UP. Yes, you often take my dishes out to the kitchen or put my water glass in the dishwasher, and as much as I love the help, it’s not ‘cleaning’. Cleaning is when you wash the floors, scrub the bathrooms, wipe down the cabinets, clean the inside of the fridge, etc. It involves rubber gloves and chemicals and various scrubbing/washing accouterments, none of which you have ever wielded.

I love you but you don’t clean. You CLEAN-UP.

Anyone else’s husband think he ‘cleans’?

15 comments:

  1. Haha even though you are totally right, I think that might be one of those battles that aren't worth having since he sounds pretty awesome :-)

    My husband also does most of the cooking, but he wouldn't even think of picking up my water glass and putting it in the dishwasher. haha

    Love this post - so funny!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hahaha. You are totally right. I'm lucky if I even get the hubs to clean UP (after himself! Geez)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ha, that's hilarious! My husband doesn't think he cleans, but he also gets mad when I tell him that we need to clean. I swear, he's like a 5 year old kid. Um...vacuuming and mopping are things grown-ups have to do.

    ReplyDelete
  4. amazing! so true!! We both do our fair share of cleaning up - he usually does the dishes because it's my least favorite task -- but I am for sure the one who cleans. When he tries to clean I typically end up being totally dissatisfied with his idea of "clean" and I re-do it anyway. It's really hard with us both working full time busy jobs and we hate spending saturday mornings cleaning ... but it has to get done!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Your husband is a tidy-er, sounds like. Mine is OK at tidying, but he's the best at vacuuming, sweeping and at getting cat hair off the furniture. So thorough! He should never have revealed to me how good he is at these tasks, because now when they need to get done I turn to him!

    ReplyDelete
  6. HAHAHA, this is hilarious! Now if only I could get my husband to do either! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  7. funny. my husband cleans when asked, but never cleans up...just bugs me to do it :-)

    ReplyDelete
  8. My husband too cleans up. It's definitely his "job" in our household. We definitely recognize our roles...I make a mess during the day (I work at home) and he cleans it all up, puts my dishes in the dishwasher, tidys it all up when he gets home. But I do the cleaning that involves detergents, scrubbing, mopping, etc. I've made it clear that I don't feel bad that he picks up my mess after me...for one, I don't have janitors/a maid like he does at work...so he can my maid in this 2 income household. And another, I do ALL the "big" cleaning, so a daily sweep of all my messiness is not and should not be a big deal for him to take care of. It works really well! Plus, I HATE tidying but LOVE deep cleaning, while he's a tidy guy but has never picked up a mop...so it's great :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. I am so with you on this. Chris is great at picking up crap and stuff, but he has never said "i'm going to clean the bathroom now." So with you.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh heavens I could write a book on what my husband thinks he does compared to all that I do without him even having the slightest clue. Like the fact that EVERY DAY I Clorox wipe our bathroom counter due to remnants of his shaving escapades. One among a whole host of examples I honestly try not to think about because it only frustrates me. Someday soon I hope to get a cleaning service to make things a little easier on myself since even when he tries to help, we both know it's just not his thing.

    ReplyDelete
  11. SO TRUE! But he does fold all the laundry, make the bed when he's the last one up and vacuum so I can't complain.

    ReplyDelete
  12. This is my husband! He also thinks putting one load of laundry in the washer and leaving it there is "doing the laundry". But no, that doesn't count either :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. DUDE! My husband does the SAME THING! If there is a pile of dishes in the sink, he will take them out and stack them by the sink in a VERY organized fashion... but I think, why don't you just put them in the dishwasher?!?

    To be fair to him, though - he doesn't do a whole lot of cleaning UP either =P

    ReplyDelete
  14. Oh, I so should be cleaning & cleaning up right now, but here I am reading blogs...OOPS! It's pretty safe to say that I don't like to do either, but if forced to choose I am a cleaner vs. cleaner upper!

    ReplyDelete
  15. To make it more distinct, try using the words cleaning vs tidying. :)

    ReplyDelete