Who Cares About a Clean House? My Wife Does!

clean houseSo, what do my wife and I fight about? The big things like sex, money, and the kids?  Nah, that would be too easy, too typical.  We fight about a clean house including the dog-hair, where the dishes go, the vacuuming, wiping off the counters, folding the laundry, and the kid’s messy rooms.  Oh, and making the bed with ALL those pillows!

I was a 24/7 single dad to my two boys and two dogs for several years.  During those years, I lapsed in the area of clean house.  There were more pressing things to deal with, in my opinion.  Dating again, for one thing.  And, more seriously, the emotional fall-out to my boys because of their (biological) mom abandoning them. read more

Just A Guy, Oscar, Living With Felix

The other night we had some friends over and my conservation side came out when I began cutting our large napkins in half.  We were having dessert, and I thought the napkins were too big and it was a waste.  My wife was appalled and demanded I stop immediately.  Our friends thought it quite amusing.

It represented another time when our Oscar and Felix differences came out (referring to Oscar the slob and Felix the neatnik in Neil Simon’s “The Odd Couple,” though we’re not near as extreme as those two).  I’m mostly Oscar, the messy one, but also the one that is maybe overly budget conscious.  My wife is Felix, the neat one, who may be a bit anal about it in my view (in hers, she’s already let go of most of her sense-of-order and cleanliness needs by living with 3 boys and 3 dogs–I’m considered one of the boys). read more