Distribution of Work

I think Husband believes he does more around the house than I do.  And that irritates me beyond belief today.  Today is the last day before we return to work from the holidays.  We picked up stuff to make pierogies for dinner.  So it gets to be 6:30 p.m. and I ask him when he was going to start dinner.

"Oh, I didn't realize I had to cook them," he says.

Well, of course he did!  I don't cook pierogies - and when I do, I don't cook them with bacon, onions, and sour cream the way he and his brother do.  So, yes, I expected him to cook dinner.  Then he was all put out.

Yes, I had one more day off than he did so I suppose it is expected that I achieved more than he did this weekend.  But I can only think of one chore he accomplished this weekend - carrying the Christmas tree back down to the basement.  I had to wrangle the kids and collect all of the Christmas decorations and put them back in the boxes, untrim the tree, remove the Christmas lights from outside, etc.  And I did that with the kids home with me all day!  He would argue that we don't have to do any of this if I didn't want the house decorated - he wouldn't bother if it was all up to him.

In addition, I did all the laundry - mine, both kids, and the communal linens.  He did one load of his own.  I even made sure to put it all away.  I broke down boxes from all the presents for recycling - he helped me at the end because it was clear I was frustrated.  Otherwise, he has happily been sitting in front of the TV for so long today that the TV auto-shut-off has engaged at least twice that I am aware (it takes 3 hours before it turns off).

So I'm irritated.  Particularly because I get up from the couch where I have been researching refrigerators and induction ranges and decide to get some work done on the association website while we wait for pizza (yes, pizza - he didn't feel like cooking) and notice that the kids have left the lights on in the dining room, have left out the play dough that he got out for them, that the newspapers I thought the kids had put in the recycling bin are spread out all over the office floor, and that the dishes from the melted cheese & nacho lunch (yes, he thought that was an adequate lunch) are still sitting on the table.  I clean up the papers, make the kids clean up the play dough, and clear the dishes.  All while he plays Harry Potter on the Xbox and we wait for pizza.  Yes, I think I can be irritated.  You?