Thursday, July 22, 2010

Temper Tantrum

The other day, I noticed that the Jimmy-job chart we made a week or so ago still had one thing left on it that wasn't crossed off.

*Change the broken sprinkler head.

I alerted Jimmy of this news and he of course said something like " well, we just gotta get a new sprinkler" so I have learned to say- "That's all you babe." Because in the past, "we" usually ends up being just me. The conversation ended there and I kinda logged it away in my- thatsnevergonnahappen-file.

Wrong! That night, in an effort to fix the sprinkler, my Dear Husband figured he could ninja kick it into submissive working order. Obviously that went well since what resulted was sprinkler genocide and of course a rushing geyser. This is not the first time he tried
banging on something like a frustrated toddler in an effort to repair it. And like a child, he has little-to-no knowledge of how to actually repair anything i.e. the whole square peg-round hole idea. Based on my memory alone, he has also tried this caveman technique on the following: A television, a DVD player, a keyboard, MY camera, a cabinet, a GPS, and my personal favorite was his phone. To quote him: " My phone broke in my hands." To which I of course replied: "You mean, you broke your phone... with your hands."

The next day when I got home from work, he was digging up the sprinkler. As soon as I got out of the car he says: " I need a little hand shovel" So I told him they were in a basket in the shed. On his way walking over he says "Where in the shed?!" I stayed quiet since I figured he
could glance around the 5 x 5 space himself but he asked again so I said. "On the shelf"
"Where? I don't see it"
"Well, if it's not in there, I don't know what to tell you."
"Kat, I need you to help just get up and help!"
He then emerged with a large trenching shovel right as I was about to go look in the shed.
I say "Well, if you are gonna use that I won't bother to look."
"I asked you and you wouldn't move, I told you I needed your help!"
"Well I guess you are good to go then."
"Kat I wanted you to help but you just sat there."

Since I knew this would go back and forth for at least 20 minutes I got up and looked in the shed. No basket, no shovels. I was right, surprisingly! I told him it wasn't there then walked inside. A little while later, he came in holding the broken sprinkler and said, "Where are the new ones?"
"In the bin on the porch I think, if not they are in..."
"Kat, you just need to help me, this is so silly- just come help!" he calls as he is stomping around the house. I managed to sneak the rest of my sentence in:
"...the box in the shed labeled Sprinklers" before he slammed the door.

It may seem cruel that I wouldn't help him dig a small hole, unscrew one sprinkler and screw a new one back in- but if I keep holding his hand through every task, how is my boy ever going to learn to do something on his own? Plus for every 10 things I fix around the house, he fixes 1 and asks 10 questions about it.

Albeit frustrating that he isn't skilled with home repairs, I didn't marry him so that I could save a few bucks on a plumber, (Plus I have 4 brothers and a father who know how to fix any and everything) I married him because I LOVE his childish personality. He is the funniest, most creative, easily amused, spastic, random, and unconditional loving man I have ever known.

So I just gotta laugh at the fact that the sprinkler is still broken.


Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Diaper Changing?!?!

Okay, Okay I know my hubby is a little boy but at least I don't have to change his pampers. However, don't think he hasn't tried to have me do that for him too! Here is a little video that was secretly recorded by his brother a few years back.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GL5-0n4IVQ


HA HA HA HA HA HA!! ...sigh

Thursday, July 1, 2010

The Job chart

Growing up, my mom always made job charts for us kids. She tried every single method out there: The spinny wheel, the gold stars, the velcro situation. They always worked but it seemed only for about a week or two.

Despite the apparently risk of failure, the other day I made a job chart for my Dear Jimmy. But in grown up terms it is more commonly referred to as "The Honey-do list". This may seems like an odd thing to hand over to your husband but when you have a guy like mine, it makes perfect sense. It was actually his idea. Not only do I not have to nag him over and over to do the 3 things I want him to do, but he actually really LOVES to cross things off a list. I knew this about him for a long time and I don't know why just now I have realized to implement this technique. Whenever I want some music downloaded, I will write it down and within a day or two I will have it. He crosses off the days on the calendar, he makes lists for himself and he is so good at his job because they give him and "action list" of grants that need to be written, so he is consistently 2 months ahead of schedule.

The list is simple: His 5 chores are at the top, the middle is things we get to do together, and at the bottom is my list of 15-20 things I have to do. How could he complain about what he has to do when he can clearly see I have given myself so much more work?!? I wrote up the list after he went to sleep and simply set it next to the door so he would see it before leaving for work the next morning. That night, he immediately had 3 things crossed off. I knew this would happen but was still surprised it happened so quickly and with such fervor! Especially since he had a movie to go to that night he still managed to work it all in.

I am hoping this technique will not wear off like our job charts seemed to when we were kids but I have a feeling it wont since Jimmy has never seen a list he didn't like. I REALLY hope it always works because as the list for house projects goes down, the quality time in the bedroom goes up! It's amazing how that works, isn't it?