Before I start, let me just say I am not a clean freak. Quite the opposite, actually. I hate cleaning. I avoid it until it is absolutely necessary.
Let’s talk about the bathroom.
Our bathroom usually ranges from smelling like a porta-potty at a summer music festival (where Boys With Bad Aim are headlining) to slightly less disgusting.
But every once in a while I DEEP clean. You know what I’m talking about. The type of angry cleaning where you scrub every corner and crevice until it sparkles.
I only do this about once a month. Okay, probably less.
The gobs of toothpaste are dealt with. The hair. The splatter on the mirror. The grout! The metal of the knobs. The drain. Everything.
Finally, I step back and admire my work.
It smells clean. It sparkles. It looks absolutely perfect and spotless.
I pick up my tub of cleaning weapons and return it to the garage.
On my way back, I hear something. The familiar buzz of a hair clipper.
In. The. Bathroom.
In my perfectly clean bathroom.
Oh no!
I confront him.
He is clueless so I explain:
He shrugs and reassures me that he’ll clean up after. It’s no big deal. Relax.
He goes back to shaving.
But you know what happens next, right? No matter how well he THINKS he has cleaned, there is no way he will return the bathroom to it’s once pristine state. The pristine state that only lasted for five minutes. The pristine state that I slaved over.
Do you see why I hate cleaning?
So I’m left with:
And even standing right next to it, he assures me that “I cleaned up all the hair!”
I feebly point at the shards of hair in the sink, hidden next to the knobs and even scattered on the counter. But he can’t even see them.
What IS it about a perfectly clean bathroom that triggers Crappy Husband’s need to shave and trim his hair?
It is like a switch flips inside of his brain when he sees a clean bathroom. His robotic programming takes over. “Clean bathroom detected = initiate shaving protocol.”
I have no idea how to shut off this robot.
Next time I get the urge to deep clean the bathroom, I’ll ask him to shave and trim his hair first.
Course I don’t see that happening any time soon. So we’re good.
—————
Yes, he shaves his face a couple times a week. However, he doesn’t trim his hair every day, it is once every month or two. About the same frequency as how often I clean the bathroom. Hmmm. Do you see the pattern here? I’m not imagining this!!! There is a robot in there! The clean bathroom causes him to trim his hair!
LOL! It never fails for me either. Same with the cat box; as soon as I scoop it out, the cat jumps in there and craps
I was going to say the same thing!
Our cat does exactly the same thing. I think it’s territorial. Wonder if your husband is marking territory.
I was just thinking the same thing about the cat box. Why, oh why, do they do that!
Wouldn’t you rather go to the bathroom in a toilet that has been flushed than one that hasn’t? Cats probably prefer a clean bathroom to a dirty one as well!
YES. I was just going to say this. Clean litterbox = cat has to crap. Clean bathroom = husband has to shave. Clean family room = kids have to immediately play with ALL the toys. I DON’T GET IT YOU GUYS, I JUST DON’T.
Not just the cat box… Why do kids wait for a fresh clean nappy to poo???
Everyone likes a clean restroom lol
Nothing draws out poop like a clean diaper, and if it’s brand new fluff or the first one after washing them (so it has to sit in the pail longer), all the better!
If my baby hasn’t pooped in awhile all i have to do is put my favourite nappy on him, bam! Right on the tie dyed insert.
Yes!
Exactly!
I was going to say the same thing Victoria! When I had cats, clean the litter box & then they would have to go. Same thing with my family.
I had to check the comments just to make sure someone didn’t miss this LOL
I’m with you on the cleaning thing. Besides, cleaning something that’s really dirty is much more gratifying than wiping down a pretty clean sink every day. I’m a results-oriented cleaner. 🙂
Yes!! Me too!
Exactly!!!!
Word.
Oh. My. God. Just reading this triggered my rage.
LOL, me too. I am seething. Only my husband doesn’t shave, he just doesn’t aim. Disgusting.
Oh, he goes Lex Luthor?
He’s just like a dog who got a bath and now has to roll in the mud. Men are very connected to dogs.
This is why my firm criteria during house shopping was “double sinks in the master bath.” His sink is always disgusting and hairy (yes, he does the same thing and shaves as soon as I clean), while mine is normally just decorated with 1-2 long blond hairs, which bother me far less because they are mine!
I. JUST. YELLED. AT MY HUSBAND FOR DOING THIS a week ago. Your post was so spot on! What male genetic is it where they “can’t see” those little hairs in the sink and we can?
seriously, why can’t they see those hairs????
I JUST TOLD MY HUSBAND THIS! Same thing. Clean the bathroom (not deep clean) every week or so. That DAY he decides to cut his hair and trim his facial hair. AHHH!
My husband does his close shaving in the bathroom, but for trimming his beard and cutting his own hair (which he does), he will go in the backyard with a little hand held mirror. 🙂 The thing is, he cares more about cleanliness than I do. So it works for us. 🙂
Does he have a brother???
Drives me freaking crazy!!
Oh, yes.
YES! This happens every single time! How are you in my house??!
SO TRUE!!!
YES!!! Every.single.time!
Oh my goodness!! My husband does the Exact. Same. Thing. Never fails! And I also only clean my bathroom properly about once a month.
Your husband is very talented to shave his head with one hand and shave his face with the other. If it were me, I’d accidentally cut myself in both places. I was never good at the patting on the head while rubbing the tummy thing.
Yesterday I slaved over our bathroom. Our one tiny bathroom shared by 6 people. And this morning he shaved. He cleaned. The bathroom no longer sparkles.
This is totally us! My husband has learned to ask “is it ok if I cut my hair tonight?” It’s the little things.
Separate bathrooms. Salvation of our marriage. 🙂
We have that. I cleaned it, and sure enough he trimmed. I REFUSE to clean it again when he did this. I now pretend that part of the house does not exist because I wont clean it if he can not clean up his trimmings. Thankfully my daughter and I have our own bathroom which he is starting to use. :/
We have separate bathrooms and I agree, they are the bedrock of a good relationship, but he will still use my bathroom to shave his head (and, yes, as soon as I clean it), as “the lights and mirror are better”…!
I feel ya. Every time I spontaneously wash the floor in the bathroom, one of the kids accidentally pees on it, which leads to a spot cleaning because **** that.
Same thing that happens when you clean a litter box. Cat/s feel this compulsion to take a huge crap.
OMG! Me too! Seriously, my husband says for a long time: I’ve got to shave my head. So, I wait with a deep clean of the bathroom. And he never shaves his head. The morning after said deep clean, he shaves his head. And “cleans” up. *headdesk*
My spouse is hyper-clean, which would seem like a good thing, but it comes with its own set of problems. For example, he puts things away while the kids are still playing with them: http://www.momintwocultures.com/2013/01/five-things-you-should-know-about-ren.html
Ours is pooping. Every make in this house must immediately poop right after the toilet is cleaned. Kind of how a baby always poops in the new diaper. Either way it never fails.
Glad to know I’m not the only one who does a deep clean once a month, if that! 😀
DITTO!!
same thing happens when I vacuum…kids spill their rice on the carpet and track pine needles and leaves (!) in from outside. the work is never done!
My husband does this too and also “cleans”. But somehow beard trimmings always end up in the toilet roll. Which goes unnoticed by me until I use it. Ouch.
For me it’s my twin boys. As soon as the bathroom is clean they need to take a MAJOR dump! It’s so annoying! I can always tell because they leave behind an article of clothing. Usually a belt but more likely pants are nearby too! They must be programmed too!
My husband does the same exact thing. Every time he shaves, it’s like when someone shaves the Tasmanian devil in a cartoon. I guess he uses a piece of dry toilet paper to move the hair around and ‘clean’ it. And then of course he gets hair blindness and I have to stare at it every day while I brush my teeth.
I’ve given up cleaning because of this. Not just the bathroom but the whole house. I think the kids are in on it too. Mom cleans=destroy house. Finally threw in the towel. I clean just enough to get by but other than that,f**k it.
I’m with Sarah.
LOL! And here, everyone wants to bake cookies when I get the kitchen spotless!!! And not clean up afterwards!
I can so relate!
The same thing happens here.. Every. Single. Time. Never fails!
“angry cleaning” – really, there’s no better cleaning than that.
Great minds think alike! Go, Lauras! LOL
This used to be me. And then one day, the hubs just started shaving his head in the garage. No more tiny little hairs around the sink. It’s amazing. And now I just get called out to answer the ‘did I miss any?’ That’s love right there.
I wonder, could the “Husband shaves/trims in a pristine bathroom” biological switch be triggered by the same physiological mechanism that dictates “My baby only poops in a clean, freshly changed diaper”. Inquiring mom/scientist want to know!
my house, every week… but since the husband shares the cleaning duties, he does tell me when he is going to cut his hair and then cleans up (actual cleans) afterwards. but during the week, he is completely immune to seeing the hair, boogers, toothpaste, etc that he gets all. over. the. place. sigh.
How do you know my life so well? Really. It’s kind if scary.
Yes! Every. Single. Time. And the tiny flecks of hair left all over after my husband has “cleaned” up! Ugh.
Yes, preach it, sister. At least your husband tries. Mine says he will clean it up “later”. In my husband’s world, “later” occurs very shortly after he realizes I have already given up waiting for him to clean it and I wind up doing it, myself, so really all he has to do is say “Aw man, I was JUST about to do that…” MMMMM HMMMM.
**This** is the exact reason is why I’m “letting” my husband grow a beard.
(I also have my Dad staying with us for two weeks and I’m tempted to ask him to go back to having a beard as well….)
My husband trims his beard, which then gets all over his tshirt, which gets washed in the same load as my bras. Result? BEARD HAIRS INSIDE MY BRAS. Those hairs are SHARP.
This is why my husband and I have separate sinks. That way I don’t see his beard shavings and he doesn’t see my mess. He May mess it up the day I clean it, but I don’t see so I don’t care lol! The kitchen on the other hand…. gah!
total B/S this is a gender Bias.
i’e lived with a woman b4 and they can be far messier in the bathroom than a dude. they have long hair’s everywhere. hair pin’s and all sorts of female crap. so this lil thing doesn’t settle a thing. sometimes you have messy men and sometimes you have messy women. those are the breaks. but this lil thing doesn’t mean that all men are jack asses when it comes to cleaning.
You must be fun at parties.
I know what you are saying– I have a Martha Stewart brother (Stewart Martha?) and a Miss Piggy sister. HOWEVER: If the Felix Ungers of the world stand out for being clean AND male(!) that alone illustrates that expectations are lower for dudes. “Not all men” are jack asses about recognizing that the world does indeed regard them differently.
Picture the kind of house you’d only enter in a hazmat suit. If I tell people it’s occupied by women, they’d imagine middle-aged cat-hoarders. If I said “men live here,” people would think “fraternity house,” where it’s acceptable for men to be pretty filthy but still considered normal guys.
Also, “messy” and “dirty” are different things. Leaving your shit all over is still less offensive than leaving *shit* all over. I find that many men tidy, but wives clean.
Nobody said anyone was a jackass and she is just telling her own personal story of what actually happened in her house. There wasn’t even any male bashing involved so your comment makes no sense to me.
This EXACT thing just happened to me last week!!
This week I cleaned the bathroom and later that day my husband put towels he used to sop up water in the basement from a plumbing issue in the tub AND dumped the dirty water from cleaning the fish tank in the sink. So frustrating!
Wait… Are you ****ing kidding me????
This is my house too! Hair all over the counter and sink. And shaving and brushing teeth also require mass amounts of water splashed on the counter and down the cabinets. Then I get mad so he “cleans” it (takes 2 swipes at it with a paper towel). WHAT IS UP WITH THAT?! I have tried reprogramming, however the results are not satisfactory.
Ha ha. My husband is the same. When I asked him why, he said it was easier to “clean” up the trimmings from a clean sink.
I so understand! I’ve been making an effort to clean the bathrooms well each week, alternating tubs/showers one week and floors the next (sinks, counters, mirrors and toilets get weekly cleaning), and to give the sink/counter a quick wipe a couple times a week. This morning, before getting the kids to school I managed to squeeze in a quick sink/counter wipe. By the time I got home TWO HOURS later, there was already toothpaste spatter ALL OVER around his sink!!!!!!!!!!!! Grr. Also …. I try to make it a point to be the first person who goes ‘number 2’ in a freshly cleaned bathroom. Nothing drives me more crazy than when hubby or one of the kids gets to deflower the toilet right after it’s cleaned!! 😉
I think this falls under the same universal principle, which causes kids to poop in their diapers while you are washing diapers.
Oh my! It’s like you were in my house….TODAY! My husband cuts his own hair (ex barber) and has to shave daily for work. I am constantly cleaning up hair. Argh!
Cleaning up after other beings is the reason I continue to live alone. Unless and until I meet a creature I want to share my space with (preferably one with the cleaning gene I don’t possess), I shall continue to be young (at heart), free and single.
My wife is not quite a slob, but she is always leaving film from her makeup in the sink and OMG the freaking strands of hair are *everywhere*, including stuck to the bathroom ceiling!!!
Who cleans that along with the bad potty aim of our 8 year-old?
ME!!!!
Sincerely,
Mr. Clean
I have to admit, it’s the same in our house. He’s the neatnik and I’m a slob.
I used to jump into my parents’ bed right after my mom fixed it. It looked so fluffy and inviting *right then*.
That drives me absolutely insane when my daughter does this. I’m sure I did things similar to my own mom!
It’s like you live in my house! But my bathroom counter is smaller. 🙂
My mom used to make my dad shave his bear outside. Every time!!! he had a little mirror and would hang it on a tree and shave.
I know it was just a typo but LOL at ‘shave his bear’ !
LOL!!!!
Best typo ever! LMFAO
Dying. Sometimes typos are just too funny! Sorry, Jody!
The same also goes for dishes. As soon as I finish washing/drying/putting away all of the dishes, he wants to cook a huge meal that takes exactly 73 pots and pans.
it’s like you are secretly watching a video of my life….the EXACT scenario happens at my house, and if it’s not shaving, it’s cleaning the fish tank and leaving behind little blue rocks and fish slime.
OH MY GOD YES. What the hell? I thought it was just my husband. The *moment* the bathroom is clean he has to use it. Like, he’s waiting at the door. Really?
What about a clean toy / play room that must be played with as soon as you are done. Or freshly made bed with all the pillows.
Oh my gosh! I was totally just ranting over this the other day. Hubbo says he trims his hair on Sunday nights so I started cleaning the bathroom on Mondays trying to extend the clean time. He went in Monday night to shave again!
YES. every damn time.
Every. Single. Time.
My husband does this too! Sometimes I can convince him to shave over a Kleenex or paper towel – it helps contain the mess a bit.
However, I find cleaning the boys’ bathroom to be much more annoying. “Boys with Bad Aim”? SO TRUE. I swear, within 24 hours I will hear the phrase “I missed!”
OMG. Could not stop laughing. My husband does this EVERY TIME I clean the guest bathroom when my mom is on her way to visit. “But I cleaned it after” he says while tiny hairs are stuck around the faucet and in the grout around the sink…
That story describes my life to a tee. Every single time! It never fails.
After 30 years of marriage my hubs began to work from home. Arghhhhh. Not only all of the above. Now he tells me better ways to clean. Or asks me why I do something like I do. I was a homemaker most of my life. Now I have no motivation. As soon as the kitchen looks pretty he makes a sandwich. Using the counter I’ve asked him to avoid cause it shows junk the most. I clean the fridge. Within minutes fingerprints. I wash the floor. Again with minutes footprints. Bathroom…water everywhere. Even on the walls. Oh and I wash the window above the kitchen sink because the view is pretty…he ALWAYS shakes his hands dry. I never used to complain. I was albe to enjoy the fruits of my labor for a while. Now I ask nicely (the first ten times) to use another counter, wipe your feet, wipe your greasy hands, ad nauseum. In his him I’ve become a shrew! Even the outside pool towles are hung wrong. It’s exhausting telling done who thinks he is being helpful to do it MY way…because he is making more work for me! He hangs our outside towles over filthy furniture to dry. I ask him to bring them inside to dry. He never does. Ever. My point being I have to wash them because who wants to dry their bodies with a dirty towle. I actually think he’s pissed and doing this to get back at me. It’s exhausting. I have to argue every point.
I feel you and want to send a virtual hug. Also: a virtual slap across your husband’s face to jog some logic into his brain!
I can see how that’s very frustrating for you! But some of the things he’s doing “wrong” seem pretty minor to me. Perhaps you have high standards? In any case, sounds like you both need to sit down and work out some compromises—some things he needs to make an effort to do your way, and some things you just need to let go without complaint. Best of luck to you both.
Pssht, not to worry. Assuming you’re about the same age, it’s likely he’ll die about 5-10 years before you, so you’ll have a good long stretch without any of the annoyances of a husband in the house. Something to look forward to! All that peace and quiet. Start counting down the days!
We experience similar robotic programming the day our cleaning lady comes — it affects my husband and me in the same way. Almost without fail, we serve rice to our two young children the day the cleaning lady has cleaned.
I don’t have this problem but both my husband and my son feel the need to poop in a recently cleaned toilet – EVERY TIME!
It’s the same impulse that makes your cat use the litterbox *right* after you clean it. The same deep-rooted instinct that means when a child’s diaper is changed, they celebrate by immediately using it. It’s probably not on a conscious level, given those two similar examples. Husbands must just think with their unconscious minds a lot more than we do. 😉
Ugh! Totally get this! Usually though it’s wet, dirty shoes on the clean tile and someone always has too make a poo RIGHT AWAY. Really?! My guy doesn’t see his plentiful body hair decorating the floor or sink either. Yet, if he sees a bit of my head hair in the shower, he gets kind of grossed out. Hmmmmmm.
It’s just like the cat reliably using the litter box within minutes, no seconds!, of you cleaning it. They just KNOW there’s a fresh new litter box there waiting for them!
Ours is a freshly mopped kitchen floor and greasy shoes….
When possible I shave outside. Its biodegradable and avoids clogging the drain.
Maybe you could set up a shaving station in the Garage? It’ll come in handy when the boys get older.
To be fair, my wife shaves her legs in the tub, even when she knows it needs to drain-o’ed and then complains about the tub being messy. : )
In our house it is the same with the microwave. I angry clean it every once and a while and get it brand new looking again, then someone inevitably microwaves spaghetti without covering it in the next 24 hours and destroys the microwave.
Sigh…. I’m so glad you’re back. It feels so great knowing that I’m not the only one. 😀
blank canvas phenomenon. it happens with the kids and clean rooms, too. i think the urge to create and make your mark is just irresistible. and its is inspiring to see that clean white porcelain calling your name…”come AND DECORATE ME. with your tiny hairs and body cast-offs…”
it’s creativity. creativity=mess.
This is SO TRUE! Pure genius how spot on this is, I really thought we were the only ones who had this exact conversation!
OMG. I don’t know if I am relieved that this appears to be “normal” male behavior or even more enraged. Mine does the exact same thing. EVERY SINGLE TIME. And the cat box is in the bathroom too and guess what? Damn cat is in cahoots with the husband! I clean and ten minutes later they’re in there shaving and crapping. Next house, I am not sharing a bathroom with either of them!
“smelling like a porta-potty at a summer music festival (where Boys With Bad Aim are headlining)”
Brilliance. Made me lol!
I’m fortunate that my hubby shaves whisk he is showering so I rarely deal with hair in the sink. But my kids on the other hand with gobs of toothpaste all down the sink!?? What the!?? Did they even brush or just stick the toothbrush in their mouth, suck the toothpaste off and promptly spit it in the sink? Seriously….don’t even get me started on the splatters all over the mirror after I just wiped it clean. Joy….
Oh… this also happens when I mop. I can go a while between moppings, and there’s always a major spill within an hr of mopping the floor!!!!
Oh my goodness, you could have been writing about me and my husband to a T. I am so happy to know I am not the only one who lives this!
Yeah… my hubby also can’t see all the whiskers and hair trimmings…. I know it’s been “cleaned” because it’s not a whole carpet… but seriously… it’s so far from clean!!!
Have you been eavesdropping through my window again?
I want to put fancy red ropes on gold ballards across the office entrance each time I clean that with an inch of its life, charge admission and take a deposit for any mess incurred!
Been there. Put his shaver and a mirror in the shed, problem solved 🙂
OMG, this exact same thing happens at my house 🙂
Does this not come under “work avoidance tactics”. I mean, if we ever thought they’d do it properly in the first place then they could clean the bathroom perhaps 😉
My cat feels the need to crap WHILE cleaning the litter box. And I hate those little hairs from my husbands electric shaver. Or how about you just clean the car and everyone decides to go to the beach in it? Or wash the kitchen floor and what do they want for dinner? Rice. I’m being plotted against on a daily basis.
Yes yes yes! My husband ALWAYS shaves right after a deep clean!
So sorry for your pain. My hubby cleans the bathroom. I do not do it often because when I do he goes right behind me and cleans it again.
My husband shaves in the shower. It never occurred to me before how thankful I should be for that boon.
What I want to know is where the hell those little hairs that gather on the back of the toilet come from. Both on top of the tank and in that nasty spot between the bowl and the tank. It’s like he’s shedding pubic hair over the commode with every visit. NASTY.
Hate a dirty bathroom. Used to scrub it every week. Them the little ones came and overpowered me. Porta potties seem….. Monthly are still discusting as is usually my bathroom. 🙁
Our daughter goes to day care once a week so I can clean our house. The vacuuming, mopping and bathrooms all get done on that day. Yet somehow in the 4 hours between day care and bedtime the floor gets peed on, there are crumbs and dried playdough all over the house, and every toy is on the floor. Then the dishes from dinner and laundry need to be done, but husband wants us to watch a movie instead because he wants to relax. Even though he spent the last three hours on his computer eating raisin toast. So my kitchen counter is covered in raisin toast too!
Same problem here! Every time!!
My husband does the exact same thing. It makes me CRAZY!! And he doesn’t understand what the big deal is or why it makes me so mad. He also “cleans” up after himself and leaves a trail of hair from the sink where he starts to the shower where his shaving escapades end.
the PowerPoint for my husbands shaver is on the opposite side of the bathroom to the sink – so instead, I get those little hairs over the towels!
Isn’t it odd that even a cartoon stick man saying “I’ll clean it up.” Gives me the same reaction as the real thing…. I raise my eyebrow, purse my lips and give a deep Mmmm Hmmmmmmn.
We had that same problem. My husband, during warmer months, now will shave and trim outside. (one a week beard trimmer) It is easier to do that than to listen to me point out all of the hairs he missed. During colder months he will stand in the shower (no water running) and trim in there. Then he can use the handheld shower head to clean everything down that he doesn’t see. Major marriage helper!
Yes, it is a robot. My husband admitted it when I showed him the blog. And I’m glad you’re back.
I have this exact same problem with my cats. When I clean out their litter tray and put it back down in the laundry all fresh and clean, the second I leave the room one of them slinks in and makes it stink again. Every. Single. Time.
Same thing here! Except the hair is all over the toilet seat and tank because he trims his beard in front of the medicine cabinet mirror.
lolol! i feel that way after cleaning the cat box. no matter what as soon as i’m done he needs to use it.
You clean it *every* *month*?
Sounds like clean freak to me!
It’s the same as babies waiting for a clean nappy to poo in. Husband and kids in my house… All want the clean bathroom.
This is ridiculous ! Just be thankful you all have running water and a home to live in.
Ignore the troll.
You have such a healthy sense of humor!
I believe that you may have founded a support group in your comments. There are so, so many of us with this unfortunate issue. I’ve accepted my fate. There will never be a clean room for more than 30 seconds unless I clean when no one is home.
Am I the only one who sees a face where there should be a sink in the post above?
/ x x \
| J |
\ O /
(Hopefully it kept the extra spaces I put in there so you can see the “face”…)
It didn’t. :/
But you get the idea.
This. This. This x 1000!
Every damn time. I would also like to know how the facial hair also lands in the middle of the floor. Far, far away from the sink. Does he shake the razor head around in celebration of a beard free face? Drives. Me. Nuts.
I’m so glad I am not alone.
I have this same problem. And my husband is the neat freak! haha! He honestly doesn’t see the hair he’s missed all over the place.
My husband uses baby powder every day. It turns into a cloud and settles on everything. It even makes it’s way out of the bathroom and into our bedroom where it causes me to have to dust every two to three days. He knows I hate it so he never asks me to buy it. He always buys it himself on a special trip to cvs.
Oh my goodness! No way?! Are you serious?! I thought I was the only one who encountered this. It drives me crazy! I honestly wonder if he waits until I’ve cleaned the bathroom to shave his head and face.
I liked this term “angry cleaning” – I do that too.
LOL – thanks for sharing.
Wishing you a lovely day.
xoxo
Same thing in my house!!
Oh, I hate that! And my husband shaves his head, too, so I get it.
What really drives me nuts isn’t the sink, or the cats pooping in the just cleaned litter box. What drives me nuts is that my kid always always ALWAYS gets a stomach bug the day after we get the carpets steamed cleaned. ALWAYS. Just cleaned carpets now covered in puke stains. AAAARGGH.
As soon as you wash the dog, it goes out in the backyard and rolls in the dirt. Sigh.
HA! Totally forwarding to the husband!
OMG this is EXACTLY what happens to me EVERY time i clean the bathroom sink!!!! My husband also has this disgusting habit of making contact with the tap when he is rinsing out his toothpaste. Ewww… Our tap always has smears of toothpaste foam on it, gross!
Honest question: what is the appropriate amount of time the husband should wait after the cleaning for him to shave / trim?
Would y’all want the bathroom to stay pristine for one hour; two hours; 24 hours …? At some point the husband needs to shave / trim and it may leave hairs in the sink.
I always put a piece of newspaper across the sink when I trim my beard – doesn’t catch every single hair, but does a good job with minimal cleanup needed.
At LEAST 24 hours.
I look at the bathroom with indifference galore. I would gladly cleanup hubs hair any day, so long as he commits to not crapping while I AM IN THE SHOWER! Seriously, two people, two bathrooms…and he can’t use the other? Never mind being kind enough not to flush and turn my shower scalding. Steamy bathroom with a poo = awful, so much for shower fresh. Forgotten poo, to be found/flushed later. What is it about running water that triggers the need to go?
That’s right up there with getting your car washed… and then the next day it rains…
Husbands should clean the bathroom! Leave the worrying about little hairs to them.
Oh. My. God. Me too.
Rarely do I comment, however, this time I have two.
1. This behavior is not restricted to males. For those of us males who clean the bathroom and are married, the same behavior prevails in our wives. My conclusion is that our other halfs have a genetic imperative that perceives change as threatening and must put their stamp back on things in order to feel safe. Does not matter whether it is shaving, trimming or dying their hair. So, after many years of marriage I just build this into the equation.
My second post is really a question: it took until we had kids that this became clear to me. I thought it was just mean. Now, I see it a subconcious compulsion not to let things- as in anything- get out of ones control. Or, then again, maybe i’mm an idiot and it is just plain mean.
Hmmm….
There are so many replies! Seems we are all part of a sisterhood that suffers the same fate :p What I loved in this article was the one little statement: “Do you see why I hate cleaning?” Until then, I struggled with this sad fact. Before meeting my husband, living on my own, I rather enjoyed cleaning. I’d clean, and it would stay clean for a long time. I was confused as to why after being married and having a child – just one – I was unable to get the house in order. I don’t work outside the home, so I should have plenty of time to clean, right? Now I understand the psychology behind my mess. Thank you!!
This is SO familiar!
Your husband does this too? I suffered this for years then burst into tears one day. Now, he shaves in the garden.
Today he complained he can’t do it without a mirror. I said, you know, you CAN shave in the bathroom, just clean up afterward. He said: he can’t stand cleaning up all the little hairs.
No kidding.
My 5 year old son crawled up on my lap while I was reading your blog today. After a minute he blurts out, “That lady sure is a good painter!” Hope that makes you smile today. 🙂
I’m glad it’s not just me. The hubby even had the ability to get hair on the toilet paper, which was across the bathroom. I have NO idea how he managed that (granted, it’s a small bathroom but still!)
Goes back to infancy. Every time I give the baby a bath, all sweet smelling, clean clothes – sure enough he does a humungous crap. Start bath all over again. I think it sets of a life long pattern. 😀
I’m so jealous. My ex never once in 12 years of marriage cleaned the hair from the sink. It one reason he’s an ex.
I seriously died laughing and almost wetting my pans b/c this couldnt be MORE true – except it’s shaving, toothpaste, hair gel in the counter, hair coloring & poor aim! and then he wonders why I dotn want to clean the bathroom every 2-3 days….UGH!
Thank you SO much for this – it was such a good laugh & a relief to know I am NOT alone with this!!
Would it be wrong to say you are my most favorite person in the world, even above my husband of 20 years and five children! You make everything better! You are amazing! Never stop drawing or telling the universal stories of being a wife and mother!
My husband and our two teenage boys have the double sink main bathroom and I have the small master bathroom. I totally understand your revulsion to cleaning the bathroom. The boys bathroom smells like boys with the missed aim not to mention the spit out toothpaste in the sink and dad’s hair clippings too. I like my small bathroom nice and neat. Can someone explain why hubby has to use my toilet instead of the other? Is mine special or something?
My husband is the saw exact way. I actually left him a nice note on the mirror once. I wrote happy 10yr anniversary. Clean the sink lol. Woke up the next day and it was cleaned. (He gets up at 5a for work I get up at 7a to get my 4yr old ready for school.)