How I adapted when my husband started traveling for work.
My husband is in sales. He is wonderful at his job and has grown in his career. Unfortunately, moving up the sales ladder generally means that you’re going to be traveling – a lot. Earlier this year, I said “Adios” to corporate America and turned to freelance writing to keep me sane while staying at home with my children full-time. It’s a good thing I did – a few months later, my husband’s schedule shifted and he was suddenly required to be out of town Monday morning through late Wednesday night every. single. week.
Despite my best intentions, my marriage isn’t new or hip or trendy. I cook and clean. He does the lawn and the taxes. I sew curtains and decorate. He watches the budget and fixes the garbage disposal. It’s not that way because I am trying to reverse the women’s movement, it’s just that our marriage works better that way. I am a better cook. He’s a whiz at taxes. I really enjoy a nicely swiffered floor. He loves multiple trips to Home Depot. Call it genetics. Call it culture. It’s who we are.
As part of his book, The Guinea Pig Diaries, author A.J. Jacobs did everything his wife told him to.
As part of his book, The Guinea Pig Diaries, author A.J. Jacobs did everything his wife told him to. "She will be boss. I will be her devoted servant. It will be a month of foot massages and talking about feelings and scrubbing dishes and watching Kate Hudson movies (well, if Julie actually liked Kate Hudson movies). It could be revelatory. It'll let me explore the tricky power dynamics of the modern American marriage. It'll allow me to study the Mars/Venus, Everybody Loves Raymond clichés about gender battles and figure out which are true and which are hogwash."
Advice on how to divide housework. First tip? Get him to do man chores!
According to Simon Oaks, author of Will Marry for Food, Sex and Laundry, men aren't wired for certain chores. He cites the (made-up) proverb: "Give a man a clean kitchen and he'll make a mess of the place after one meal. Teach a man to clean a kitchen and you'll probably have to clean up after him anyway." So how do you handle housework when one of you is a repeat pleaning offender? Oaks devotes a whole chapter of his book to this; here are a few highlights.
What busy woman wouldn't want a man wife? Find out what happens when one gets her wish.
Many a busy woman with a jam-packed schedule has daydreamed about having a nice, cozy man-wife, with bulging biceps, at home. After all, who wouldn't want to come home to a home-cooked meal hot off the over, a neatly made bed and a stack of freshly scented laundry....that's already been pristinely ironed and folded. In Annie Sanders' new book, Busy Woman Seeks Wife, one woman gets just this.
"That's What He Said" finds out what men think about domestic duties.
"That's What He Said" takes to the street to find out what men think about domestic duties. How do you split up the chores around the house? Is it 50/50?
"That's What He Said," takes to the street to find out what men think about domestic duties. How do you split up the chores around the house? Is it 50/50?
