For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for August 21, 2016

How, pray tell, did John survive in his dormitory while attending dental school? (I’d like to know what Elly does with that kettle and cloth.)

Sometimes, accepting a little help means accepting that someone might do things a little differently. It’s not a bad thing.

Just another great one from Lynn! Very thoughtful.

Mother does that too.

After he retired, my Dad tried to take over dishwasher duties. The above scene played out nearly word for word daily until Mom finally told him not to bother .

He went to his grave saying that it was the one and only time in his life that he was fired.

This is exactly how it is in our home….I can’t even put a fork back in the utensil tray correctly. Thus, I stay out of the kitchen unless I’m fending for myself. We pretty much divide the work into inside and outside work. My wife doesn’t wash the car or mow the lawn and I don’t do laundry or wash dishes. I still can’t understand why she was upset with me when I mentioned my socks were not folded with the right-side out two weeks ago. That comes under her jurisdiction! (True story, but all in fun!)

Just the opposite problem here. When my husband retired he nearly drove me crazy the first year following me around and telling me how I was doing everything wrong.

My neighbor cuts my lawn on his side. He cuts it too short. I don’t care, he saves me doing it.

Men and women do seem to process how to do tasks differently.

Perfect,John.Now she’ll NEVER ask you to help again.PERFECT.

Umm. no. So tired of this old sexist canard. Think of it this way, what if Elly was in his shop, and she was “helping?” So she puts the sockets back in the chest wrong, all the tools in the wrong the drawers, tried to use a wood blade to cut a piece of metal, didn’t wipe up the oil that spilled, and then tried to use a tack cloth, and tried to use finishing nails to fasten a miter? John would be just as “frustrated” The truth is, they are married, John is a capable adult, who lives in that kitchen every day, so there is no reason he should not ask and learn how Elly has set up her “shop” so it works best for her.

I don’t say anything. I just go behind him and “fix” it.

Bill Cosby did a stand-up routine with some similar. He is woken up to cook breakfast for the kids. He instead gives them chocolate cake, rationalizing it has eggs, milk, etc. Wife finds out, sends him back to bed. “Which is where I wanted to be in the first place!”

Nothing is ever done right for a nagging fussbudget. So it’s better to do nothing at all. You’ll e criticized either way.

My Mom was a perfectionist like Elly—it is impossible to help if you can never do anything right.

Today’s strip speaks volumes! But, it works both ways you know.

I’m just amazed that they had a dishwasher all those years ago! We didn’t get our first one until the kids had already left home.

If you want help, don’t micromanage, and don’t start complaining when the job is barely started. Show some appreciation afterward for something you didn’t have to do yourself. Allow more than two minutes for satisfaction over a job completed, even if not well, before you start in assigning the next job. Make a list that we can cross off things on, and do when we feel like it, instead of instead of springing emergencies on us at the last minute. Letting us do our own projects once in a while still results in things getting done, and greater worker satisfaction.

The old saying….“If you want something done right, do it yourself!”

The same gag has been seen when Elly and her mother lock horns over how to mind house.

‘cept in our house it’s the other way around. ;-)

When John dies, his wife will stand before the coffin an tell everyone all the times he failed to meet her expectations. It will be a long wake…

along about my fourth year of marriage, I was washing dishes-back before the days of every house having an automatic dishwasher-I somehow managed to break several dishes(growing up from age 10 until I graduated HS I was the dishwasher at home. During AF Basic Training, and the entire first week of tech school, I washed dishes, never broke anything) and was thereafter exempt from washing dishes, and even exempt from putting them into the now quite common dishwasher, until this very day, after 41 years of marriage, my wife never asks me to help in washing or cleaning-I washed some white clothes with colored and the white clothes came out pink-now that was an honest error, had no idea that could happenBut if pressed, I still say I am quite happy that I am told to keep out of the way. And this after 18 years of retirement

I was taught that 5 + 4 and 6 + 3 and 7 + 2 ALL have the same answer. You can get to the end however works best for you!!

When I first married I had no idea how to load a dishwasher. My wife would rather do it herself that show me. My wife couldn’t cook so I cooked she cleaned. With kids home life became more frantic. I found loading the DW was simple. Now the kids have moved out. I am disabled/retired and the wife likes her work so she’s still working, and I take care bof the house. The wives still do most of the home-keeping today. Guys and dudes strive to be a full partner in housekeeping. The rewards are fantastic.

How can a woman marry a man who has lived as a bachelor for 30-plus years and expect him to have full high-standard housekeeping abilities? Maybe some obsessive compulsive type does, but not most guys.

I sent this to my wife under the title of, “Understanding your husband – 101”.

By the last time I got married,I’d been doing all that kitchen crap and housework,and laundry for decades already,so I’m pretty sure I had a handle on it all right? Nope! New wife wastes no time installing retraining program because it has to be done her way.Is she a perfectionist? Nope,after 25 years I can safely say that is not the case.Did I resist the retraining program? You bet I did! Guess what? She’s NOT the boss of me,nor me of her! By the way,she cut the grass for the second time in 25 years this summer,and I said “honey,you did a great job of cutting the grass today”!

Elly is going to be stroke bound once she gets the two kids to start helping with dishes and cooking. Unless of course she does it all herself so that she can complain constantly.

I wonder why?

This is so my mother it is scary. “Why did you use THAT cloth to clean up a hairball?” “No, don’t put THAT in the washing machine!” Oh why did you clean it up with Windnex!" ""No, that’s not the way you’re supposed to fold them!’ I am so not kidding. She even noticed this strip herself and pointed it out to the rest of us!

Elly just needed to tell John how she wanted things done, if she has a better way, since she handles this stuff every day. My husband insists on doing things any other way than how I ask, so I don’t ask for help anymore.