Cranky Old Man's Tips on Household Chores
This cranky Monday re-run is from June 2011
(Ladies, some of this may seem sexist; please do 
not read this post!)
As 
I am now retired, it is increasingly difficult to avoid household chores.  If I have to do these chores, at least I will 
do them my way.  For all of you other 
retired cranky old retired men facing the same requirement to do household 
chores I offer these tried and true tips:
Laundry – Women have been indoctrinated in 
the belief that you must separate whites from colors when doing the wash.  They learned this at a young age and the 
indoctrination is so strong that no woman has ever dared to 
experiment.
The truth is that except for the first two 
washings, colored items can be mingled with the whites.  The whites will remain white, the colors will 
not bleed.  I repeat, there is no need to 
separate the colors when doing a wash load.  
Not separating the colors saves time and 
money.
Men….if your wife is monitoring your laundering, 
you must separate the colors.  She will 
never believe the above axiom even if you demonstrate it for her.  She will see bleeding whether it exists or 
not.  
You must only fail to separate when she is not 
watching. 
In 
fact, every once in a while I recommend you take a new purple shirt and mix it 
with an old crappy white tee shirt.
“Damn!!  
What happened?”
“Oh Sweetheart, you poor stupid thing; don’t you 
know not to mix colors with whites?”
“Oops, I forgot.  
Sorry.”
This will make your spouse feel extra important, 
and maybe get you out of occasional laundry 
duty.
Dishes – Doing dishes is a relatively easy 
chore if you remember just a few things.  
1.    
 You will 
never be able to load a dishwasher correctly.  
You must just load it and run it before the inspector wife tries to squeeze in 
an extra knife or dish.
2.    
If you do not want to get caught with inadequate 
dishwasher loading, you must unload as soon as the washer is 
done.
3.    
If you do not know where a dish goes, do not put it 
away.  It is better to leave it for your 
wife than to try and remember where you put it two weeks 
later.
4.    
Do not touch the Tupperware.  You could safely put Tupperware in the 
dishwasher, but there is a prevailing belief among women that this will spoil 
the seal and ruin the burp.  Do not 
challenge this belief.
5.    
Every once and a while, put a dish in the washer 
without adequately scraping off the morning’s dried egg yolk.  Put the dish away even though the egg did not 
come off in the wash.  This will keep the 
illusion that you are helpless without the inspector wife.  She will appreciate this in the long 
run.
Vacuuming – This one is a bit tougher.  Women demand that a freshly vacuumed carpet 
have vacuum lines.  I don’t know why, 
just accept it.  It is perfectly OK to 
vacuum willy nilly but when finished, you must quickly go over everything to 
leave the correct lines.  Sometimes if I 
have time, as a goof, I put in criss-cross lines.  The criss-cross lines subliminally reminds a 
women of the lines in a grass football or baseball field.  This disturbs most women and they do not know 
why.  
Hey, they do stuff like that to us, we just don’t 
know it!
When vacuuming, do not think you don’t have to vacuum 
under stuff.  These places will be the 
first areas the inspector wife will check.
Making the bed – Unless you were in the service, do 
not even attempt this chore.  Bed making 
can never be done to a women’s standard.
Dusting – Please!! Do not stoop this 
low.  If you have to dust, do it in a 
skirt!
Ironing – Don’t fall for this, even women 
don’t iron any more.
Washing the floors – Spray the floor with Windex, put 
on an old pair of white socks, get a mop and a folded up sock and play floor 
hockey for about twenty minutes.
Cleaning the Bathroom – Windex on everything.  Wipe clean with a paper towel.  Use bleach to rid any mold from shower 
curtains and the tub.  Remember, no 
matter how much you clean, there are little hairs floating around all bathrooms 
waiting for you to be finished before they fall to the ground.  Your wife will find them no matter what you 
do, just be prepared to apologize.
These are my little tricks, now get the fuck out of the house and go 
play golf!
Hey lady, don’t get angry, I told you not to read 
this post!
 

 
 
my husband is a much better house cleaner and ironer than i will ever be. more power to him.
ReplyDeleteBefore GS retired I did laundry.
ReplyDeleteIt took less than half the time it does now.
Love it!
ReplyDeleteMy husband won't let me do laundry because I don't separate. He cooks, too. Why? Because I don't do that right either. Guess what other chores I screw up and thus cannot be trusted with? :)
ReplyDeleteI agree on the laundry. First time wash- keep an eye on it. Otherwise it all goes in together.
ReplyDeleteI still hold firm on the Tupperware comment from the last time you posted this. Throw it in anyways. If it doesn't last- toss it in the trash and deny it's existance.
Floor hockey? I may have to try that one.
I'm fond o' sayin' "life has been hell since the maid quit." OTOH, there's a certain satisfaction that comes with not having "oversight" of any kind. Like all-day, all-night football on Saturdays in the Fall, and other associated things.
ReplyDeleteGreat tips... if only for the validation within! ;-)
OMW - had a good laugh! Especially the bit about the dishwasher. Hubby always tries and then walks out the kitchen and then the kids have a good laugh and repack everything!
ReplyDeleteI actually don't care how badly someone else does the housework if it means I don't have to do it ;)
ReplyDeleteI don't do no stinkin' housework!!
ReplyDeleteOK, now I'm confused. Do I have to separate the plain white dishes from the colorful flowery ones when I put them in the dishwasher? And is it OK to put Tupperware in the dishwasher on the delicate cycle? Do dishwashers have delicate cycles?
ReplyDelete*sigh*
Screw dishes. I'll just eat standing over the kitchen sink.
S
Loved this post. I guess I didn't know you in 2011.....egads, how much I have missed.,.....must try to catch up someday.
ReplyDeleteexplains why all the males hide when they see me with a mop or vacuum.
ReplyDeletemy husband was an engineer and he packs the dishwasher using mathematical formulas of space so I close it so he doesn't see how I pack it,since I have no mathematical brain.
I would swoon if a man in my house did any kind of cleaning on purpose. Including picking up the mud clods that fall out of their boots and onto the carpet. My 18 year old son is good at dusting the coffee table with his butt. I don't tell him, or he'll sit elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteRegardless of my gender, I'm not what you'd call a fan of household chores. I'm with you all the way about there being no need to separate colours and whites, my water glasses haven't been streak free since I took them out of the box, and my bathroom is lucky if I take the time to spray some cleaner around in there.
ReplyDeleteShit I would be stoked if my man did some chores...I am responsible for all my husband knows how anal I am so he he like why bother???
ReplyDeleteYou nailed it on all counts and it was hysterical getting a guy's side of the cleaning fence. Yes, I am guilty of telling my Architect husband that he cannot properly plan a space - in the dishwasher. I'm wish you on the laundry. I think at some point I was like eff it and threw everything in one load and it was fine. But for the nay sayers, they make some kind of pod that supposedly sucks up the dyes and protects the whites. It's probably a laundry placebo.
ReplyDelete