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Are you scared to leave your OH Home Alone?

(53 Posts)
janerowena Mon 01-Dec-14 18:52:49

A friend's work colleague is, now. She came home the other day to find a large square missing from her cream berber sitting-room carpet, where her retired OH (forbidden to eat his lunch in there) had dropped his eggs, chips and vast quantity of tomato sauce and hadn't been able to remove it. In his panic he cut out the square and put it in the washing machine! It was hanging on her washing line. Pink, patchy and shrunken.

annodomini Tue 02-Dec-14 08:52:10

And none of us are clumsy and spill things? Just asking!

petallus Tue 02-Dec-14 08:56:13

I am fascinated. I thought loud angry (and convinced) denials of what is obviously the truth were just a quirk of DH's personality.

It can go further than that. The other day DH got a bee in his bonnet about being the only one in the house to switch off lights (which we two others always left on). So I paid attention and noticed that DH was always leaving lights on!

Adult GS (who lives with me) has kicked over his drink, which he likes to stand on the carpet, three times in the last two weeks. Luckily it is only water. Anyway, I'm not criticising him because, unlike DH, he can do no wrong smile

Lilygran Tue 02-Dec-14 09:24:37

We just assumed we wouldn't buy any new furniture or carpets until the DS left home - horde of large young men with cans of stuff 'sitting down' by letting gravity take over. And anyway, we had no spare cash. Then we got the delightful, wouldn't be without them, pack of sticky DGS.

jinglbellsfrocks Tue 02-Dec-14 09:44:55

This is why I didn't replace our living room carpet when we had the bedrooms done back in the summer. I would be forever worrying that drinks were about to be spilled. Just not worth it. grin As it is older grandson just managed to grab his younger brother before he went haring up our stairs with his muddy shoes still on! hmm grin

Nelliemoser Tue 02-Dec-14 10:32:03

It seems to me that many men don't seem to think of using damage limitation measures before doing diy etc.

Why not cover up surfaces before starting to paint or drill holes etc? There are now burn marks in my kitchen table from molten solder and a ruined vinyl table cloth after he was soldering without protecting the table to start with.
He also overfills cups of tea and carries them around dripping. I have constantly suggested he used saucers or a tray, we have plenty to choose from, but when he realises he has forgotten the saucers he then carries the still dripping cups back out to go and get them.

anniezzz09 Tue 02-Dec-14 10:45:55

ha, ha, great story. Mine slopes off to the garden to do 'a little pruning and weeding' when he thinks I'm out for a while. He really should have pursued a career as a lumberjack because little escapes his attentions and I have lost a fair few of my treasured plants along the way!

kassi Tue 02-Dec-14 11:32:28

Many many years ago when we were first married I used to boil DH's white handkerchiefs in an old saucepan. We had no washing machine back in those days. One day I was going out for the day and asked DH if he would please do the handkerchiefs. 'Fine, no problem' he said. When I returned later he said (very pleased with himself) 'I couldn't find the saucepan, so I put them in a casserole dish in the oven for a couple of hours'. He couldn't see what was wrong! He meant well, bless!

Nonnie Tue 02-Dec-14 11:39:50

I never worry about leaving DH alone because I know what he will do, anything he thinks I shouldn't see! He is just a big child who does 'naughty' things when Mummy isn't looking. It is never very important or sinister.

Maggiemaybe Tue 02-Dec-14 11:47:39

I've posted this on another thread, but when I was out my DH once helpfully hung a whole lineful of nappies out to dry in our garden, which is separated from the house by an unmade road, so very public. Unfortunately the nappies he hung out were dirty ones fresh from soaking in the Napisan, prior to being washed. I still don't understand why he couldn't see that they were stained and horrible! He was in his early 30s then - if he did it now I'd be worrying about his mental faculties slipping. grin

KatyK Tue 02-Dec-14 15:50:27

The other way around here. We had some wooden flooring fitted a few years ago which I decided to 'wipe over with a mop' as soon as the fitters left. I moved our very heavy suite around to clean under it and it scratched the brand new floor blush What was I thinking? They had to come and put some more panels in, my DH was furious. As mentioned in a previous thread, I have also set fire to the kitchen. I have left a tap running in the bathroom sink with the plug in causing water to cascade into the kitchen. So my DH is safer to be left than me.

Liz46 Tue 02-Dec-14 16:05:04

I think this may be more of a mult tasking problem but if my OH varnishes the fence that is all he thinks about. I worry about his feet - on my plants! As far as he is concerned he has done the job so what is the problem?

Stansgran Tue 02-Dec-14 16:56:58

It's uncomfortable eating in an armchair with food on your lap and cutlery to deal with. If you've got a table why struggle? I am baffled by people eating TV dinners as food must get down fronts . It's much easier at a table.

petallus Tue 02-Dec-14 17:02:37

I feel quite lost if I've got to eat without being able to watch TV. I can just about manage sitting at the table if I have a book to read.

I've been the same since childhood.

Of course thats only when I am alone.

Eleanorre Tue 02-Dec-14 19:05:37

Husband of a friend spilt a chicken tikka masala take away in their lounge. He cleared up the worst of it and rearranged the furniture.I am afraid the smell gave him away .

janerowena Wed 03-Dec-14 11:58:46

grin

I knew there had to be a few out there. DBH is pretty good, but last summer we bought a new metal white enamel-painted garden table and chairs.

DS decided to spray his airsoft gun in enamel, camouflage colours and was convinced that the spray would cover an area no larger than a couple of feet. So as the spray paint was also enamel and I didn't notice what he was doing straight away, my lovely new table has brown and green mouldy-looking clouds on it surrounding a neat white square. I shall have to repaint it next Spring.

Yes, we too were victims of the 'New house, they are all grown up now, let's have a large cream rug' big mistake. We had just moved when DD announced her pregnancy, 7 years earlier than she had always planned. The only mishap so far has been DD herself knocking over a black coffee.

PRINTMISS Wed 03-Dec-14 16:57:14

Well,not quite alone. We have just come back from a girls lunch out - left my husband with my friends' husband - they had explicit instructions as to what to do with the shepherds pie, vegetable and apple pie - everything was ready, just needed cooking. We had a lovely lunch in the good company of lots of friends (my ears still ache!), arrived home to discover that the men had found a brand new lunch - apple pie with vegetables and brown sauce, followed my shepherds pie with custard. Well one of them does have very poor sight (registered blind) and the other has problems with near sight, but you would have thought wouldn't you that they both knew the difference between a shepherds pie and an apple pie?

annsixty Wed 03-Dec-14 17:45:54

But did they complain or did they enjoy it?grin

Kiora Wed 03-Dec-14 18:30:18

Yes I'm scared about leaving my O.H at home alone. I'm frightened he'll find my secret stash of QVC stuff. I afraid he'll find out how many shoes Iv got. I worry he'll open my bank statement/ credit card or find a receipt from my hairdressers. I Hate being lectured and the worse thing is I know his critism is justified!blush

janerowena Wed 03-Dec-14 18:45:08

grin

To both of those.

PRINTMISS Thu 04-Dec-14 09:21:45

Annsixty My husband will eat what is put in front of him (just as well I am still a terrible cook!) and our friend is very much the same. The comment on the apple pie with brown sauce was that it was not too bad! Don't think they ate a lot of it though, and of course they did not put the custard on the shepherds pie - or a least I don't think they did.

felice Thu 04-Dec-14 11:26:35

One good thing about living on the continent, most floors are wood or in my case tiled.
When is see how much dirt comes off them I cringe at how much must have been in even regularily cleaned carpets.

loopylou Thu 04-Dec-14 12:37:16

Left DH at home (he didn't want to go) whilst went on holiday with a friend and came back a week later to find he'd decided to paint the newly carpeted hall and stairway, dropped a tin of white gloss down the new stair carpet and walked it across the living room to get to the cleaning stuff in the kitchen..... He then put newspapers on the blobs of paint and there they stayed until I got back. I could have cheerfully murdered him- especially when he'd refused to paint before the carpet was laid, saying he wouldn't make a mess. All he said was 'I wanted it to be a surprise'............ Needless to say had to replace the lot (but not the DH though)

gillybob Thu 04-Dec-14 15:28:16

Bloomin' heck loopylou shock well I suppose he was right about you getting a suprise anyway !

annodomini Thu 04-Dec-14 15:58:25

loopy, hope you're insured against your OH!

loopylou Thu 04-Dec-14 16:13:19

No insurance company would cover him I suspect! Did consider having new patio dug though!