With two adult kids still living at home we, meaning my kids and I, sometimes get into these long conversations that cover a large variety of topics in conversations that can last hours. And I mean hours. Last time I think we sat around the kitchen table talking for two or three hours. We only ended the conversation because I seriously was no longer comfortable. Seriously, dining room chairs are not designed for anybody as height challenged as I am.
So, our conversations often end because I needed to get to a more comfortable place.
Now back to the conversations, specifically our last one.
I’m not going to pretend to remember what started the whole thing, it was probably just the three of us all being in the kitchen at the same time. I’m also not going to pretend that I know how we segued to this topic, I just know we did.
The topic in question was who in our household of four was responsible for which specific tasks/chores.
I said (more or less), “I’m just the CFO.” Which is accurate since I pay all the bills and track all the money. It’s my main chore, partially because I can do it sitting down, and mostly because I know accounting. (I did minor in it.)
Without missing a beat, my daughter said, “Well, if you’re CFO then I’m the CEO.”
Okay, very fair observation. Even down to the point what she says usually goes. I mean dear husband and I can countermand her but what usually happens is I countermand him and back her up. Mostly because what he wants is too expensive, often massively so.
Well since she established her role I decided that my son had to have a role and gave it some thought. My first thought was CIO, chief information officer, and that’s what I said at the time, but I’ve since figured out that his role is CTO, chief technology officer. I even gave him an official company shirt for his last birthday. It reads, “I’m my families unpaid tech support.”
Well, with our roles firmly established we then tried to figure out what my husband’s role was in this household.
I mean he has some pull because he can tell us to do things, but we can all countermand him when what he wants just isn’t possible. But he is also not specifically responsible for anything. My kids and I divvy up the chores based on skills and current abilities.
Which means my daughter does the lion’s share of them unless she’s having a flair, or it’s that time of the month, or most recently, she broke something, like a rib. (Believe me it’s worse when she gets hit with more than one thing at a time.)
When she’s down for the count, my son has to do her chores that I physically cannot do. Or I have to convince my husband to do them. Either that or they don’t get done until she’s better.
Anyway, we couldn’t come up with anything, but I finally pointed out that most of our household income is from him, and it pays all the bills.
My son finally said, “Then he’s the clueless investor.”
I nearly cracked up. But you know, it is still a very accurate description.
I love the man but most days he has absolutely no clue what is going on around here. I mean, between my son, daughter and I we told him at least twice each (I did three times) that our daughter currently has a broken rib before it actually registered with him.
Of course, once he figured it out, he asked a bunch of questions. “How did it happen?”
Daughter’s answer. “The same way it always happens. I moved or something.”
“Shouldn’t she see a doctor.”
Daughter’s answer. “Why? They’re going to tell me exactly the same thing they’ve said every other time this happened. Which is rest, don’t lift anything heavy.”
“What are we going to do about it?”
Daughter again, “Exactly what we are doing.” This being her brother is doing the heavy lifting and any chores she physically can’t do, like those that require bending.
And yes, she has done this before, probably because she has EDS. And yes, all the doctors ever said was that it’s broken, and rest. So yes, she knows exactly what she’s experiencing and she’s slowly healing, right on schedule, getting better. But her brother is annoyed having to lift the cast iron pan for her. I sure can’t do it. It’s heavy.
Smile. Make the day a brighter day.
