It is perhaps, looking back on the last 8 years of my life, the one thing I wish I would have paid closer attention to. Part of the problem might be that I never left home to go to college (campus was four blocks away) and I took little notice about all the little things in life – like laundry, dirty dishes, and etc.
Anyone can clean a room, and some people can easily clean a whole house. I think I can “clean a house”, but things like laundry and dishes drive me up the wall. I grew up with a dishwasher (a machine, not paid restaurant help) and then it was just the matter of putting clean stuff away at the end of a cycle. It really throws you for a loop when you are put in a situation where there is no machine. However, even when there is a machine it helps to know how to use it. I will not name names, but I have seen people put dish-washing liquid (the stuff you would use if you were hand-washing) into a machine. That creates a *LOT* of unnecessary bubbles – and while stuff might get somewhat clean from this procedure, so does the floor and possibly the cabinetry when everything overflows. This is not something you ever really want to do unless you are trying to prank someone (note: the author will not be held responsible for anyone covering a kitchen floor in large amounts of soap suds).
So I hate the fact that I do not know how to be a ‘homemaker’ is a pain in the ass. I can sort-of cook, but am so picky with my food choices that it is a chore in and of itself to try to figure out how to throw something together that isn’t the same old crap. I never wanted to be in one of those “oh, it’s Meatloaf Wednesday!” type of families, so I’m doing my best to hunt down new recipes – even if it’s all based on the stuff I’ve been having for the last 8 years.
I am married, and I want to also say that it is very obvious to everyone (even to just plain old single folk) that you do not want to be in a relationship where the workload is strapped onto the back of just one person (especially if that one person is you). If you are younger and have life waiting just up ahead – domesticate yourself. Get away from fast food, dishwashers, and “can you do this for me?” and try to figure it out yourself. Ask questions, ask your parents or a girlfriend or whomever how to do laundry so you don’t end up with accidentally colored whites (not that I have ever done this, but I try to be either very meticulous or only wash my own stuff so that any destruction is solely of my belongings). Someone will be more than willing to help you once if they know you will be a little more able afterward. It’s that whole ‘give a fish, learn to fish’ thing put into homeworking practice.
Screw having your pets spayed and/or neutered. Get domesticated. Wash a dish (sometimes I do, I swear), dust a shelf (not hardly…who does?), fold a shirt (I still can’t do that very well), save the world (working on it).
Don’t be like me.
Peace,
James.
