Monday October 1st, 2012
Striking Mother’s Log Book Day One: First day of no picking up, tidying, washing, cleaning, clearing, reminding or nagging. I actually hand washed any dishes used by ME and put them away. By 6pm the breakfast dishes and dinner dishes are still sitting in their spot a the table, crusty by now. The dishwasher is overflowing, shoes and backpacks are in the middle of the hallway. Dirty socks, empty gatorade bottles and used kleenex litter the back of my couch. There will be no laundry washed unless its sorted and beside the laundry room, and lunches will be sent in plastic bags if their lunches are not brought to the counter and emptied from the day (liquor depot plastic bags btw). Homework and agendas you ask? I couldn’t give a rats ass. Clean gym strip…Go smelly I say!! I sit back, with a glass of wine and smile..all in silence. I did let Dylan in on what was going down..yet I still stare at is dirty socks on the stairs. At 8:30 Peyton asks me why I am acting ‘weird’. I smile and sip. She gets up, empties the dishwasher, rinses and re-loads, wipes the counters and clears the family room of clutter. I smile and tell her I didn’t think she would be the smart one. She tells me to stop being creepy. Deep down I think she just wants a cookie, but nonetheless, I may have to disclose my experiment with her before she taints it. She is now my favourite. The other two small people start a fight with each other and walk away. Dylan is doing laundry, I am on my second glass.
This is hilariously well written.
ReplyDeleteThank you...don't forget to tip your waitress's. LOL
DeleteJ
OMG You had to wash dishes by hand!!!!!!! The horrors!
ReplyDeleteJen, your sarcasm is not lost on me:) But thats ok....I LOVE sarcasm so thank you.
DeleteWe do live in a world where we have limitless machines to help us with our daily jobs. For that I am grateful in this crazy busy family. The comment about washing dishes was meant more about what I was doing to make an impact on them during the Strike. Besides, washing one dish and plate by hand is way more time and cost effective than running a dishwasher and then nagging children to empty it each day after school. It left waaay more time for my nails and wine.
J
Oh sweet girl. As a full-time working mom of two, and a wife, i find myself on the verge of snapping myself. I love my children, and I love my husband, but sometimes I really want to throw the laundry basket, dirty dishes, and all the responsibilities of my"seconmyd full-time job" into my husband's not waiting hands, while I take in the shocked look on his face. Sometimes I wonder why men seem to think we still live in the 1950's, and our"job" is the kids, kitchen, and laundry. Forget that we also work full-time, and are just as tired when we get home. It's it too much to ask to at least have dinner started, or the dishwasher loaded, or the wash started. Or at least have the kids ready to eat, oror whatever. I feel your pain.
ReplyDeleteI must disagree with you on this one. We, husbands, are the product of our families values while we're children but also products of our marriage. If we'll find the wife the takes care of all without saying nothing...well it might look like we're still in '5o. If our beloved wife involves us in housekeeping work, we'll DO help. Just ask for it. A man that loves his wife will do it for sure. I can cook, do the laundry, washing by hand the dishes, ironing and other stuff... By that I show my wife that I did married her for love not for having some one to keep after me.
DeleteTo make it short: it's all in how we've been and how we're "raised"...ask nothing, you'll get nothing.
Sorry for my bad English - I'm Romanian.
Nice blog and a strike full of learnings - for everybody.
She is now my favorite. Love that!! Hilarious!
Deletebigbad sheep, why does she have to ask?
DeleteBigbadsheep - you are SO right!!! I am a working married woman and my husband and I have sat down and worked out a compromise. When I stop working I will maintain the house while he works. As long as I work outside the home also, he will share the chores. I load the dishwasher and run it, he empties it. If dishes don't get done because it is still full of clean dishes whose fault is that? He does his own laundry, etc. I know some husbands who won't pitch in even after being asked, but that doesn't mean a wife shouldn't try and that there aren't ways to get the point across - nicely at first.
DeleteJenn, I hear where you are coming from. My love for my family has no limits, but there are days where I close my eyes and dream of a small apartment in the city with with no men and no kids:) I would miss them...eventually:)
DeleteYou have had some responses to your comment about men. Each situation is different but I too am married to a man who splits the housework and kids responsibilities with me in every way. This was a long time in the making, especially after I went back to work..but I found some dirty socks on his pillow workers wonders:)
Good luck and keep me posted.
J
in reply to Bigbadsheep above: May I ask....why do we have to ask? Are you a child or a full grown adult who can actually see what needs doing? here is the problem. We should not have to ask. The washing basket is full? Hey do some laundry!!!!!
DeleteLove it! Right on mom; hope they all get it!
ReplyDeletePeople keep asking how my house is now. They did get it....I think:) Truth be told in all the craziness of the last two weeks, its me that is 'slipping' in my housework. Its all about perspective right:)
DeleteJ
I think this was a great experiment and a wonderful lesion for your girls. This line was a big OUCH though: "I smile and tell her I didn’t think she would be the smart one." I hope that wasn't really how you said that :(
ReplyDelete"lesion" (lesson) a perfect Freudian slip.
DeleteHey BabyBluesSunday,
DeleteThanks for your kind words about the 'experiment':) I also appreciate that not knowing me or the girls that reading that one sentence could be interrupted as an OUCH. Thank you for asking...really. We are a pretty sarcastic family and all was said in love and humour that they understood. Written word is so one dimensional so I really appreciate your comment looking for clarification!
J
Oh BabyBlueSunday, its a joke. No need for such sensitivity. Excellent work, Jessica. Saw you on TV yesterday and came wait to read ask your posts and hope you follow up on your next steps and progress in the future!
ReplyDeleteYes it was a joke...thank you for noticing :) Stay tuned for my next steps!
DeleteJ
Nice reading. Did the same kind of action against a son and husband years ago. It works!
ReplyDeleteI would love to hear more about how it went down with your husband:) Dylan was in on it...and he is very helpful...but I'm pretty sure he would have had no clean socks if I never told him:)
DeleteJ
Well done! you should be proud and have probably taught your children a life long lesson. We run homes not hotels! and yes my boys I mean you!
ReplyDeleteI hope it's a life long lesson. I think kids learn better hands on. If the Strike didn't stick, Im sure all the media will be a very motivating factor if mommy ever decides to blog about it again:)
DeleteJ
I wonder why my mom never went through with something like this :) Excellent stuff !
ReplyDeleteI aslo wondered if my own mom ever thought of this. I sure am glad she never did it...although I was such a perfect child that it would have never looked like my own house:)
DeleteJ
This is hilarious and gutsy. Good for you!!!
ReplyDeleteMore hilarious than gutsy :) But thank you!! It really was fun, maybe not for the faint of heart but I can say it was fun!!
DeleteJ
I went on strike about the zillion school forms. I gave my kids their relevant information (health insurance # for example) and now they fill out the forms and all I do is sign. They even fill out the cheques for me.
ReplyDeleteMy son is a great cook but brutally messy. He doesn't really see the mess, so I resorted to taking a picture of the kitchen in the "before" state so he can compare it and make sure it is clean.
Now for a good story. This summer on my day off I left a note to my two daughters (son was not home) to clean the bathrooms, vacuum, etc. I got home from my golf game, and the place was spotless, and they were gone. They came home with fixins for dinner, and margarita mix. They made dinner and a margarita for me while I read a book on the patio.
way to go mom!
DeleteI think the school form thing is BRILLIANT and I will be using it from here on in. Thank you...those forms that keep coming day after day after day suck the life out of me. Now to only figure out a way they can write the cheque as well:) I also may put a picture up of my 'before' kitchen....again brilliant. Now for the important stuff...how old do they need to be to make me a margarita (salted on the rocks please) after my golf game???
DeleteJ
I read about your blog on the newspaper a while ago, found it and... I gotta admit that I totally forgot about it until now. A friend of mine has a brother that does absolutely NOTHING, so I thought "hmmm... I'll share that blog with her, maybe it helps!".
ReplyDeleteThis is the first entry I've read and I am loving it!! You're good!!!
Let's keep on reading.
Oooh, yes lets keep reading! Send any pointers to your friend. Like a sister strike:)
DeleteJ
I absolutely loved reading the whole six days! I have six small mess monsters and I am really very tempted to go on strike! sounds like a very good plan! well done you!
ReplyDeleteExcellent Post. I must appreciate you for this superb post. It’s hard to find good quality writing like yours now a days. Keep it up the good work. Take care.
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