Y’all. I snapped. Well, all I could think of was the song from Chicago ‘They Had It Coming’… Let me explain. But first, do know that my husband is an amazing husband and father. My 4 kids are very respectful, good kids. But they are a** holes sometimes (don’t judge me, be honest, and I am sure you have thought the same thing about your kids). So needless to say, I love them all. As a SAHM, people assume that I am the ONLY person that is suppose to clean the house. Well, that doesn’t fly over here, my kids have chores and hubby helps it when my endometriosis is at a high and will cook dinner on those days.
The day started OK. I woke the kids up, got them ready and dropped off my littles. I ran to the store to grab some things and kept looking at my clock, because I had a PTA meeting at the middle school. I then get a call 13 minutes past from when my 4th grader started school. He was having a moment (he has Aspergers), they just wanted to let me know. Fast forward 20 minutes later, they are calling me to come in.
So that started off my emotional day. I leave his school and stand in line at Popeyes, because my older kids wanted to try it. I get home and see that my counters were not wiped down, they made a mess in the living room (I wasn’t paying attention when I walked out the house). And someone dropped their chocolate frosty on the ground and left it. Yep, chocolate stuck on my dining room floor. Right then and there, I knew I was quitting.
I do a lot of the family work and seeing that, I felt unappreciated. So when hubby called, I was a crying mess because of having to go to the school and help my son and feeling like a bad mom. And then being upset that no one is helping around the house and that I was going on strike. He clearly thought I was having a panic attack and had gone over the edge.
He got home from work and I snapped and let them know that I am going on strike, no cooking, no cleaning. The 5 of them, will have to do it all. And it was the weekend to do the menu for 2 weeks, a grocery list and grocery shopping. Oh and laundry. I said what I had to say, dropped my mic and walked out of the room.
They all started cleaning right after that. Y’all, my place was sooooo spotless. Hubby came and apologized for not helping (and I rarely ask him to help because he works so much, but the effort of asking what he can do, means the world). We ate dinner and continued on our nightly routine. Since that night, hubby came home and cooked or we went out, the kids have been making sure that their chores are done before I even mention something to them.
For the 6 days that I was on strike, it made me feel like my family got it. All of things that they were doing, and keep having to pick up after them, wiping the counters off 5x a day, sweeping and vacuuming at least twice a day, cleaning off the living room table a lot, etc. it was hard not to clean something, but I had to get my point across. Hubby didn’t complain once. My kids said ‘Sorry mama, we get it now. You are not our maid. Thank you for all that you do when we are at school”. In no way are my husband or kids lazy. I will say they got comfortable. And sometimes, you just have to snap and go on strike.
