For the fourth time, yes I will

You are in your room, in the middle of a movie or game, and you hear a 'faint' voice outside your door nagging at you for the 45th time in the span of two minutes, to do something that has just come up and the universe is in bigger jeopardy than what Infinity War can possibly portray if you do not do it now.

Sound familiar?

Every man can identify himself with at least some variation of these situations. It's pretty well-known with the last couple of generations; small wonder then that many elderly relatives compare the journey of a man as going from one mother-figure caretaker to another.

Let's take a moment to explain the situation as best as possible from the boy's camp shall we. It's true that some mothers pamper us to no end. Do we think it's wrong? No of course not. Who would say no to a mother's love?

While the morning wakeup for most of us is still reminiscent of a screeching banshee, the rest of the days (on most days, not counting her bad ones) will be a journey on swan's feathers. And you will not find anyone who would ask to be treated otherwise, and if they do, chances are they are lying. Because of this luxurious 'almost' 5-star treatment, most men are inept at the household chores. Chances are even if your dad tried to get you to do something, you can bet on the fact that your mom would cover for it instead.

So eventually, when the time comes and your wife asks you to do something around the house, you are left figuring out the mysteries of the universe, because that's easier than what she is asking of you. Do not get us wrong. We would love to help the women in our lives as much as we can, because that falls under the whole "care for your beloved and always keep her smiling" bit. However, as we come from a place where we literally had everything done for us beforehand, things are a bit complicated for us. Adding to that complication is the thought that even as we try to do what was asked of us, we might mess up even more, adding more misery for her to clear up.

Let's discuss some of these mess ups and excuses. Perhaps then, you may gain some much needed insight into our woes.

How many times have you been asked by your dear sweet wife to get something? And how many times have you used the "Oh they ran out of it, or they don't keep that in the store anymore?" line. The reasoning for that is simple enough. First of all, it is sometimes impossible to get the correct brand or discount as we inevitably mess things up.

Another reason we use that line is when we are asked to get something, 9 out of 10 times, we have lots of other things on our mind, like the latest sports results, or the next mission in that game we are probably playing, and like they say, men can only concentrate on one thing at a time. Or how we relegate ourselves to cup noodles when we are alone and any instructions from your beloved about your favourite recipes turns out more complicated than turning lead into gold.

Even a chore as simple as doing the laundry can seem like a Herculean task. The concept of separating clothes based on colour and type, is something that takes time to sink into men's minds.  Needless to say, white shirt turns to a nice shade of pink quite often. Every millennial can relate to Chandler's exasperation when as a gesture of love he attempts to clean the apartment, only to discover, to his horror, that Monica has her own system of doing things and anything slight deviation is a big no!

Let's make it clear that we are, in no way, trying to gain sympathy to perhaps petition a new international awareness day. And it is absolutely true that men should help out more around the house. Anyone who had to help out around the home knows how difficult it is. Throw in a couple of children into the mix and the burden on women, especially working women, is simply inhumane.

So, here's a pro-tip; ask how she wants her work done and try to follow those instructions, and your chances of messing up drops significantly. Also, doing these chores earns you those precious 'get out of jail free' cards and who can ever say no to that next time you pull a "Sorry honey I am in the middle of something."

Photo: Collected