I had just enough time Friday evening to prepare dinner before running out the door. The table was set, warm rolls were wrapped up in a basket, salad was chopped & tossed and the chicken and pasta were ready to plate as I grabbed my keys and headed out into the freezing temps.
My husband, weary from 4 hours of sledding with the kids that day, kissed me goodbye and thanked me for the meal. He and his newly reconnected sister and our 4 combined kids had the night together while I caught up with the other instructors at a jazzercise center meeting.
The meeting was much more interesting than I expected. (Drama & door prizes – Hot Damn!) A few hours later, I returned home hungry to find a sink full of dishes and what was left of the pasta just sitting out on the counter – rotting.
I looked around to see where in the HELL everyone was and first found my 12 year old daughter.
Ummmm, how come no one finished the dishes?
Well, Dad and I filled the dishwasher but these wouldn’t fit.
Hmmmmm, I wonder what’s supposed to happen then?…Where’s your father?
He’s talking to N. (new sis) They’ve been talking for like an hour now.
*grumble, grumble**…I guess dishes aren’t as important as catching up with your sister that you haven’t seen in 15 years…**grumble, grumble**
What would you guys do if I wasn’t around?
I don’t know. (long pause) I guess I’d have to step up to the plate.
This made me laugh hysterically. I’m still smiling as I type this because it tickled me so. I totally expected her to say something like “Dad would have to do it” . She didn’t because she knows he’s behind the learning curve when it comes to cleaning. Yeah, he can bring home the bacon and cook it up in the pan so good you’d think he should quit his day job – but he’ll wreck your kitchen in the process and then just leave the room.
I love that she knows her parents and their limitations so well and would be willing to up her game if I tragically jazzercised myself to death. Now if I could just get her to up it…just a little…before I die, I’d be all set.
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LOL!!!
Ladybug Crossing’s last blog post..Monday Update
That is totally my house! My husband excels at snowblowing the driveway and Xbox’s Project Gotham. I have to do every thing else. He will make dinner, but the Clean Up Fairy cleans everything up for him.
Hey! Guess what! I’m in the newspaper!!!! http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=708771
indigo’s last blog post..Slightly Disturbing
You could do what I do when I leave the house to the rest of them. Give out orders. They each have a job that must be done before I return. The main rule I enforce – leave everything exactly the way you found it.
You might find this rude of me to say but – If I had left them home and came home to a mess I would be annoyed not only at my family but at the others there, too. When we go visiting I always do the dishes or at least help. It is unfair to dump the load on your hostess – family-in-law or not.
I expect help with the clean up especially after supper as it is a muchmore work intensive meal. I expect my guests to also make their beds if they are staying another night and to strip the beds the morning they plan to leave. I don’t think that is too much to ask when they have been fed good food, entertained and plied with all sorts of wines and spirits in endless amounts. I expect visiting children to pick up after themselves as well.
I don’t think that makes me an ungracious hostess either. Goodness I would be peeved at all of them.
Talk about apt. Me and my brother were discussing who was going to do what while Mum is ill… and neither of us mentioned getting Dad to do anything.
The evil plan I have is to get my brother to continue doing things after she’s back on her feet too – the woman needs to learn to freakin’ relax!
Bec’s last blog post..Most Depressing Day of the Year
I love Angie. We were taught, too, at a young age to clean up when in other people’s houses.
Glad to know your dishes will be taken care of if you go missing. I can just see her sighing and “stepping up to the plate” duitfully. LOL.
raehan’s last blog post..Love from the anti-blogger
What a cute story. Your daughter is really becoming quite a grown woman. She is learning how man and women really are and she is learning how relationship truly are too.
When I used to complain to my husband about his complete inability to help with the dishes – up to and including loading his own damn plate in there instead of sitting it on the counter by the sink – he’d toss his head in the general direction of our kids and say, “That’s what I made them for.”
Yeah, right.
Truth is, they inherited his utter lack of domestic skill, but that’s a complaint for another day.
Jennifer’s last blog post..Desperate Times Call for Drastic Measures
Ugh. I HATE that! Nothing fries me more than coming home to a mess – especially one that wasn’t there when I left!
Lizzi’s last blog post..Show me the crazy!
Ok, I’m the evil sister that let those dishes rest.
Honestly, I thought that we had done them all and as I read the comment about being an ungracious guest I realized that I can’t remember what the heck happened to make me forget that they weren’t done.
I was emotionally cooked, and it created a fog in my brain I swear. I
alwaysnormally help while visiting others homes, but this trip was so different for me, in so many ways.I apologize. I’m sorry you came home to dishes. I know I hate it just as much and it peeves me just the same. I wish that hadn’t happened, I wish that I’d been a better guest. I feel like according to Angie I must be not only a horrible guest but someone you might not invite back.
I’ll be on my best behavior if you are to have me back, promise. I’m really sorry I wasn’t more conciderate.