Kitchen cupboards

We have a drawer in the sideboard which is called the Stationery Drawer, husband asks regularly "where are the stamps?"

I just realised maybe he thinks it's the staionARY drawer.

Ah, "the man look" I know it well !

DH is another that leaves the fridge open when making tea, he also talks to the washing machine and dishwasher.

N our family we call it -having a man look.
Even my GS uses the phrase.
Does that mean we are bringing him up correctly?

I go round after my husband making sure the freezer door is closed, the doors are locked etc. He often drops things, misses the bin and does not bend down to pick the things up.

BUT I have been ill recently and he has been wonderful so I just bite my tongue and smile!

Thank you, thank you, thank you.........your responses to my post have really made me chuckle! Never would I have thought that such a menial gripe of mine would spark such interest. Have to admit that at the time of posting I was particularly irritated (extra tins in the larder only served to confuse OH more) and a little unwell but reading your contributions has cheered me up no end! With risk of overuse.........THANK YOU!

Yes some amusing responses*H1954*.
I've enjoyed them too. Some GNetters have gsoh. (not me, wish I had)
Our men can be amusing. I wonder what they think of us.

I've used amusing twice. ? I hate doing that.

My DS2 explained to me that this goes back to the days of hunter-gatherers. As hunters, the men only have eyes for moving objects. If the tin-opener is not moving, therefore, they can't see it. Even if it is in the middle, at the front, of the second shelf in the cupboard immediately to he left of the sink, as described.

The women, as gatherers, on the other hand, see stationary objects, clear as day, even when they're behind other things.

Well, that's his excuse, anyway.

How I can empathise with all these comments - I had no idea how common this is. I have come home to find the house looking as if it has been burgled; every door slightly open, every drawer ditto with items hanging out, as OH has been looking for batteries, which of course he couldn't find, but there they are 'hiding' from him in the drawer where he first looked. Liz46 I too now check the freezer as that has been left slightly ajar and needed defrosting twice within a month, and ditto the fridge which is not so bad but the back wall gets crusted with ice when left ajar overnight. Grrr!

I can track what my husband has eaten. He leaves banana skins, orange peel, crisp packets etc., on the worktop. My daughter screams at him to put them in the bin. I have given up, I just do it myself. This is a good man who'd do anything for anyone, but can't seem to put things away.

Monica, it's interesting to read your post. My DH never closes drawers, cupboards or doors. I can always tell what he's been doing by the drawers etc. I find open. If I leave the pantry door on the latch while I'm making a meal he grumbles and shuts it. Help!

Thanks for sharing, my granddaughters and I laugh about this so often,
Yep, if said item doesn’t jump into our hands we must have “ looked like a man”
I’m grateful for every day I have with my husband and dread the day the cupboards remain shut, the bedroom floor no longer looks like a wardrobe and the towels remain on the rail.

My DH has a variation of this - it's known as "fridge blindness".

He accuses me of having moved things and this may be true because new things are bought regularly and we have to make space for them.

He also leaves all his toiletries out so that he can reach them quickly.

He won't put them in the cupboard, including the extra bottles/cans that he isn't using yet.

I thought it was just my OH! He washes up but won't put things away as (after 10 years living here) he is not sure where they are kept. Yesterday, his sports top got hung up to dry and all the other clothes were in the washing basket . They were wet through but he says the door was open and it wasn't him that put things in the basket! Needless to say I loaded the wet clothes back in and let the washing machine get on with its spin cycle. He is meticulous when he washes the car, though. Strange.

I must have the tidiest husband on the planet he puts everything away he's always tidying up.not down to me though his mother used to throw everything away that he left out when he was younger.and I mean everything. Now I'm reaping the benefit of her strict rules .

Don't jump on me for this!

There's a fairly ancient book by Barbara and Alan Pease (I think that's their right names) called, "Why men don't listen and women can't read maps." I think they wrote another called, " Why men lie and women cry." They are easy to read and quite light hearted and fun while they describe the inherent differences between men and women. They acknowledge that they are describing generalisations and therefore that many women certainly can read maps (among other traditionally male attributes)! They explain that 'maleness' and 'femaleness' may be measured on a sliding scale from dizzy blonde to angry man and you can do a quiz to find out where you are on the scale. They explain that men often don't see what's not directly in front of them because they tend to have a narrow field of vision (useful in hunting and tracking game for the pot) whereas women tend to have a wider field of vision (useful for scanning for danger while gathering food.) Of course we are no longer hunter-gatherers in the traditional sense but that doesn't mean modern man will think to look to left and right in the fridge when denying the existence of the butter!

I cannot believe how helpless some of you are allowing the men in your life to be. It is as if it is an amusing game you all seem to play and allow your men to act like and be idiots. Of course they could find things. In the future there is a fair chance that these helpless men will be alone in life and will be clueless and lost.For goodness sake allow the them to grow up, they don’t need you for a mother. Perhaps you women need to have more to keep you busy rather than running after grown men.

Oh for goodness sake!
Its a lighthearted thread.

Oh Pippa lighten up!
I came home from my Art History class one day a few years ago to find my darling Paw had proudly tidied out my spice cupboard, “throwing out all the jars well past their sell by date”
It was practically empty and cost a fortune to restock.
How I wish I still had him to chuck out as many jars and packets as he wanted

MawBroon - I buy the refills for spices so fill up the old jars which have ancient sell-by dates on them!

"Why men don't listen and women can't read maps
I'm beginning to worry about myself now - I'm not too bad at map reading
However, DH does have selective hearing.

Pippa sometimes a little humour is not a bad thing, and I for one have no problem with hunting things down for my husband, he now has memory loss amongst other issues, and it is only by making light of it can I cope with the almost daily requests to find things for him.

And it is a two way street and I know he used to have no difficulty in locating things, just as I knew how to change plugs and do DIY, but never did so.
In this way it was a game.

The reality of life can be, at times, too harsh to deal with x

Even better, if they decide to make something as simple as, say, beans on toast, they ask which pan they should use to warm the beans ("er, just sling the beans in the wok, dear!"), and then stand in front of the toaster as if the bread is going to jump into the bloody thing all on it's own.........desperation or what?

Aww come on ladies, we're not all bad. As I do most of the shopping I can usually find things in cupboards, I can find the loo rolls, and the laundry basket, and a host of other things without being nagged by Beloved.

I just wonder where I left her though.

Oh, dear, Pippa
I'm sure these posters are not "allowing" their partners to be helpless at all. It's meant as a lighthearted thread, and actually Maybelle makes valid points.
There's no need to be so serious all of the time, and actually, a light hearted thread like this can be a real tonic!

My DH does a 'man look' as well. It infuriates me as I get the blame for losing or not washing the pink shirt or whatever it is he's looking for. Then I open the wardrobe and there it is tucked between two others. Then I get told 'that wasn't there when I looked'. Does he think I've waved a magic wand to make it appear for me?

Last week it was 'we've run out of butter'. No I said there's a new one in the fridge. Can't see one he replies, then I show him that it was partly obscured by the jam jar! GRRRR!