When my husband Eric told me scrubbing toilets was “women’s work,” I was stunned but I didn’t let it slide. Eric was great in many ways: he remembered birthdays, made me laugh, and handled the outdoor chores without complaint. But inside the house? All cleaning and chores fell on me, even though I worked full-time too. After our daughter Emma was born, Eric stepped up at first taking time off work, helping with feedings, diaper changes, and even putting together the nursery.
For a while, I thought parenthood had changed him. But soon, old habits returned. Eric retreated to his gaming chair after work, leaving me exhausted and overwhelmed with cooking, cleaning, laundry, and caring for a newborn. When I got sick and asked him to clean the bathroom, he flat-out refused, saying, “That’s women’s work.”
That’s when I decided enough was enough. I called my cousin Stacey, a professional cleaner, and paid her to deep-clean our house using the $800 I earned by selling Eric’s Xbox. When Eric came home and saw the spotless house but no Xbox, he was speechless. I told him, “You said cleaning was my job, so I used your Xbox money to get it done.”
I packed an overnight bag for Emma and me, told Eric to enjoy his clean house, and left to stay with my mom for a couple of days. When I returned, the laundry was folded, the house was still spotless, and Eric was waiting with a sincere apology and a promise to do better. Sometimes, you have to shake things up to teach a lesson and that’s exactly what I did.