Men. . .

Why is it I can make a meal, keep the house in order, paint a room, plunge a toilet, and a plethora of other menial tasks without calling for my husband's aid a single time, yet if he has a task to do, I need to be right there handing him tools and giving him moral support? My mother-in-law has this predicament in her house, as well. The woman is amazing and can do just about anything without help from a soul, but if my father-in-law tackles a project the sound of him calling her name to come to his rescue is absolutely inevitable.

To tell the truth, I had never thought about this trait until our dear son, Stat Boy, began doing this very thing to his sisters. Last summer I taught Oleander how to stir up a batch of muffin mix from which she could create limitless recipes for different types of muffins. She became quite good at it. Several months ago, Stat Boy began trying his hand at making muffins and he also became quite adept, unless the muffin mix bin were empty. Then he would be at a complete loss until waking his younger sister and demanding that she, once again, fill the bin for him. His sister acquiesced quite easily. Stat Boy, realizing his success at getting females to do his bidding, has now given up on making muffins himself. On those mornings he feels he needs a muffin fix, he now just wakes his sister up and demands that she make muffins to order. Why does she go ahead and cater to him? It truly escapes me.

I had begun to believe this was just a peculiar familial quirk until visiting my family of origin in Spokane earlier this summer. I noticed my brother's son has also learned to get his sisters to do his bidding. The boy can't/won't even make his own bowl of cereal. For goodness sake, he's 13! One of his younger sisters does it for him. My nephew isn't even related to my husband and father-in-law by blood, and yet he also possesses this bizarre habit. How are they (males) able to do this? Why is it they are completely helpless when it comes to daily tasks and unabashed in commanding help from their mothers, wives, sisters, and yet they absolutely refuse to ask for directions if they are lost? I'm baffled.

Comments

Katie said…
Too funny!! My hubby has difficulty with tasks that require him to find something that is right under his nose!
Tonya said…
Hmmm, I'm stumped. I think this falls in the category of sickness. When I get sick I keep on trucking. When The Man gets sick, he stays in bed for a couple days. Maybe this is a mystery of the universe! :-) Can you train it out of your son? Why don't you try and if it works, I'll tackle it here! :-)
Your Bro said…
First of all Mau...it is not a sickness. What's worse the fact that your husband, son and nephew (who by the way did not get that trait from me)ask for female moral support or that the females continue to do the tasks when asks...it's a Pavlov's dog issue I think. Just in case you were wondering...there was only one younger sister willing to pour him cereal the other sister would have nothing with that (she doesn't like pouring her own cereal...heading to her room as I type...bet you can't tell which daughter that is) We have actually remedied the Pavlov issue in our house. The culprit (your nephew) lost all of his clothes except for 5 outfits he selected and will not get any new school clothes this calendar year. He makes his own cereal now and even has to make it for his sisters to show a servant's heart. If he keeps up with this adjustment (we want to see months not weeks) with a good attitude he will see a more positive flow coming from the clothes fairy! When it comes to your father in law, husband and son...maybe you should take their clothes from them until they change their behavior!

Love ya Mau

Your Bro
Dawn said…
I love that remedy from your brother. That's just made me laugh out loud. I don't have the problem you are having..but boy do they bargain with each other when it comes time to cleaning the kitchen.."if you do this, I'll do that" type thing. Whatever works.
Anonymous said…
Haha! I know my husband is the same way with the kitchen. I just do stuff for him because it is easier than putting everything back in order once he finds what he needs. I think I have everything pretty organized, but why it is so hard for him to look in the most common sense place is beyond me.
Michelle said…
My father would not allow his daughters to serve their brothers. He would say, "You will not wait on ANY man...except your father and your husband."

Funny thing was that my husband and I dated for 6 years before our marriage (I was 18 when I met him). Bill came out to my parents house two states away many times, but it was only on our first trip after our marriage that my father made his long held position clear. One morning he asked my husband if he wanted toast. My father was sitting in arm's reach of the bread and toaster. When my husband said yes, he called to me in the next room and told my that my husband wanted some toast.
Maurisa said…
Michelle,

That is absolutely hysterical. I think my husband would get along with your dad just great ;-)

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