Ahh power tools. Men have always had a love affair with their tools. I think it was Tim the Tool Man Taylor who brought this love affair out in to the open with his catch phrase.. "RrrrRrrr". The more power a tool has, the more they drool, the more they want to buy it.
We women go along with it, after all so little of the house is theirs really. They may think the house is theirs, but come one ladies who really makes all the decisions about furniture, design and colors. We do. And maybe... we just feel a little guilty that we get control of some 1800 square feet or so while they get ummmmmm the dingy garage. So, they get tools. Besides, we also get shoes!
I was brought up in a very old fashioned home. My mother did the inside work and my dad did the outside work plus repairs etc. While my mother is very capable and was a linecook for many years and I can recall a few times that she's refinished furniture etc, I mostly saw her doing more "feminine" type things around the house. Naturally I adopted some of these ideas and when I married, it was with some chagrin to find that my husband did not always share the "men always take out the garbage" view point. Sure I believed in equality and that a man and woman should work together to make a family and build a home, share the work etc. I believed that and that he's supposed to take out the garbage and mow the lawn. *L* Still almost 11 years later and we've settled into a routine pretty well. Not that I am always happy with the balance of work around the house but we're working on it.
So when it comes to the yard etc, it's pretty much in my capable husband's hands. Our backyard, however, is a complete nightmare and my husband has big plans for it. I'm just not sure how it's going to happen because I really can't see me out there picking up rocks and shunting dirt around etc. Not because I can't do it, but because I'm... well lazy. I don't like picking up rocks. I had enough of that in my childhood. First we'd clear my parent's garden and then what do you know, we need to do my Oma's too. Then the next year it would start all over again. Where the hell did all the rocks come from. Did they grow back? Then hubby works fulltime and it's a time consuming project.
One of the big projects to be done is our deck. It needed to be moved. For some reason the previous owners built it off to the side of the patio doors, so when we go out the doors, we have to step down into the yard, turn and step up onto the patio. We would like to move the deck so we can walk right out onto it.
This was our deck.
And if it's not tools, it's techy gadgets. However, I have to say I am a complete technogeek myself much to my husband's delight. It's just so much easier to buy geek gifts for his wife than thinking up romantic ideas or better yet, picking out something that's more suitable for his mother. Paiselys, honey? I think not!
I was brought up in a very old fashioned home. My mother did the inside work and my dad did the outside work plus repairs etc. While my mother is very capable and was a linecook for many years and I can recall a few times that she's refinished furniture etc, I mostly saw her doing more "feminine" type things around the house. Naturally I adopted some of these ideas and when I married, it was with some chagrin to find that my husband did not always share the "men always take out the garbage" view point. Sure I believed in equality and that a man and woman should work together to make a family and build a home, share the work etc. I believed that and that he's supposed to take out the garbage and mow the lawn. *L* Still almost 11 years later and we've settled into a routine pretty well. Not that I am always happy with the balance of work around the house but we're working on it.
So when it comes to the yard etc, it's pretty much in my capable husband's hands. Our backyard, however, is a complete nightmare and my husband has big plans for it. I'm just not sure how it's going to happen because I really can't see me out there picking up rocks and shunting dirt around etc. Not because I can't do it, but because I'm... well lazy. I don't like picking up rocks. I had enough of that in my childhood. First we'd clear my parent's garden and then what do you know, we need to do my Oma's too. Then the next year it would start all over again. Where the hell did all the rocks come from. Did they grow back? Then hubby works fulltime and it's a time consuming project.
One of the big projects to be done is our deck. It needed to be moved. For some reason the previous owners built it off to the side of the patio doors, so when we go out the doors, we have to step down into the yard, turn and step up onto the patio. We would like to move the deck so we can walk right out onto it.
This was our deck.
And this is our deck now.
The astonishing fact is that I picked up a cordless drill and helped my husband to dismantle it. I think my husband found it incredibly charming (and hopefully sexy) to find me wielding power tools. He has mentioned it at least three times at how much he liked my helping him do the project. Leave it to a man to go overboard. It's not like I haven't helped him with projects before. I guess maybe to him though most of his yard work is pretty solitary, like mowing the lawn.
The other astonishing fact is that I rather enjoyed it. Of course, I made some mistakes, stripped a few heads (which wasn't hard to do, half the screw heads were painted over or full of dirt) but I learned quickly and even managed to salvage a few of the tougher spots. I am even disappointed that his dad is coming this afternoon to work on the rest of the deck while I'm out. I always knew I liked assembling things from instructions. Total nerd, I know. I just didn't know I'd like handling power tools.
Just how thrilled do you think hubby would be if I asked him for my own drill?
Do they make drills in Pink?
I totally get the his and hers jobs in the house. I also know that amazed I used tools and enjoyed it sense of accomplishment. I just put the new crib together unassisted and was so proud.
ReplyDeleteGood for you!