She's On Strike

I’m on strike. It’s not really a matter of cleaning the house only, but the respect that goes along with having a full-time job, working on coursework for a Master’s Degree, and shuttling the kids back and forth to their functions, trying to attend and support everything I can. Or at least the respect that should be included.

A few weeks ago, I was informed that we would be yet again entertaining strangers met over the internet in our own home. This makes me extremely nervous, even though Bob puts complete trust in everyone he meets that way. So far, he’s been lucky. Anyway, about two weeks prior to their arrival, Terry & Missie decided they didn’t want to have this couple stay overnight at their house, and Bob offered to take them in. However, the house was in its usual horrendous state, and my calendar sported an activity every single evening / day for two full weeks. That in itself would cause me to crash when I finally had a chance to sit down, but now I had the added pressure of cleaning the whole house by myself, including coercing the kids into helping, and listening to all kinds of whining and arguing. I managed to get it into presentable shape by that Friday night, complete with having one car in the shop. As I picked Bob up in New Bremen (as I had dropped him off in the morning, driven to Piqua, then driven back to NB to pick him up), he informed me that Beth was allergic to cats. I had just been thinking about this the night before as I vacuumed. I admitted to Bob that I am not the best housekeeper in the world, and he decided to call Terry & Missie and ask if they could stay there after all (btw, they have a cat, too). They were expecting the call, which made me feel even worse. For a few brief moments, I gave some thought to finding a way out. However, I came to my senses, realizing that this was not the best option.

We had a good time with James and Beth that weekend, although it meant I had to bring all of my lesson planning materials to the Freistuhlers’ to work on.

All the time I was cleaning up the house by myself for our non-existant house guests, Bob promised that after I got the house cleaned up (there was my original mistake), he would help me keep it clean. Don’t you know, that very next day, there was a freakin’ pile of laundry on the couch? I mean, how hard is it to put some shirts and pants on a hanger? That ticked me off, but I didn’t say anything. But I couldn’t get to them because again, for the next week, I had some activity every night, including working late. But the final straw came last weekend, when I asked him to load the dishwasher for me. He refused. I was busy with schoolwork, so they didn’t get done that day. That night, I fell asleep on the couch with Aidan (who had asked me to sleep on the couch with him earlier). Bob woke me up and asked if I was coming to bed, or staying there. Since Aidan had asked, I decided to stay.

The next day I asked him again to load the dishwasher, and he gave me the silent treatment, saying he had really wanted me to be there, and that we didn’t have to do anything. Yeah, right. I’d have been in the doghouse for sure if I didn’t! Know what I mean? Anyway, now every counter in the kitchen is full of dishes. There is not a clean one in the cupboard, and the kitchen stinks so bad from the mold that I had to get the kids out.

Although this is not my child, there is stuff growing in my sink!

I decided to visit Carrie, Marte, and Sebastian, since it had been several months since I had seen them. I am writing this from the Best Western in Columbus, as I promised the kids I’d let them swim for a little while.

Oh, and since we don’t fight by yelling, I tried giving him a taste of his own medicine, and didn’t tell him my plans. I know this isn’t right, but I’ve been hurt too many times to let this one go.

The dishes probably won’t be done when I go back tomorrow, but with lots of prayer, we’ll get through this. And maybe he’ll actually begin to realize that I’m not supermom. I can either provide a clean home by myself, or I can contribute to our family finances with help on the clean house from everyone else who lives there, but not both.