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.