LAMENT OF A REAL, REAL HOUSEWIFE

 I know I spent years creating this situation by treating the housework as my job, because,well,  it was my job.  I was an actual housewife.  Not a big haired, foul mouthed, scantily clad female with loads of money and household staff.  An actual budget watching, grocery shopping, meal cooking, errands driving, laundry folding, homework helping, housework doing, kids raising, housewife for more than half of my marriage.

HOWEVER.  For the past 8 years I have worked outside the home.  Most of the kids have left the nest.  The one that is still here is 17.  The hours I work allow me a lot of time to continue my household "duties" before I go to work for 8 hours in the evening.  I usually make a dinner or have a list of easily prepared items available for heating posted in the kitchen.

And yet each night when I come home, there are dishes on the counter and sticky forks and other utensils scattered about.  Occasionally my husband washes the bowl his salad was in.  Just that one bowl.  Nothing else.  And he leaves it sitting out on the counter. 

Yesterday Ally wanted to make pancakes after I had cleaned up the kitchen, swept and mopped the floors and vacuumed the rugs.  I said it was OK if she cleaned up after herself.

When I got home last night, included in the usual dinner mess were all the breakfast dishes.  When I confronted her this morning after I had cleaned up most of the mess, she looked around and said "it's just one bowl."

This is my lament.