Dear Queenie,
My husband and I both retired from our jobs a few months ago and now all he does is sit around watching TV or go out watching sports with some of his friends.
I still have to clean the house and do the shopping and the cooking and the laundry and all, and it’s more work than ever because he is around all the time now messing things up more than ever, but when I ask him to help out he tells me he’s supposed to be retired, not just doing other work than before.
Queenie, I’m supposed to be retired too. How can I get him to help out?—Retired wife.
Dear Wife,
Your husband apparently thinks all housework is a woman’s job and beneath his dignity (not to mention too exhausting for a retiree, but that also should apply to you).
Perhaps you could arrange to take a vacation from housework – even actually go away (by yourself, of course) for a while and leave him on his own. Let him see for himself how much work you still have to do even though you are retired from your outside job.
If you can afford it, you might also look into hiring someone to do at least part of the housework for you.
