It’s no secret that women do more housework than men.
According to The Institute for Women’s Policy Research, this takes a toll on women economically, affects their career choices, and is detrimental to their health and wellbeing. The study further stated, “On an average day, women in the United States spend 37% more time on unpaid household and care work than men.”
It’s a big deal. So, one mom turned blogger decided to prove a point to her husband.
Mommy Sideburns
Karen Alpert, a.k.a. Mommy Sideburns, is an author and blogger who is self-deprecating, witty, and a little bit vulgar. We love her because she’s so relatable. “I Heart My Little A-Holes,” her first book, became a NY Times Bestseller. Her blog, books (including “I Want My Epidural Back” and her latest book “Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be A-Holes“), Instagram, and Facebook pages all show the “other side” of motherhood. Instead of a perfectly curated Instagram page, Mommy Sideburns is serving us realness.
She is real about issues facing her family and her kids. Common themes include bullying, vaccines, and how she won’t let her tween daughter treat her like a doormat. She will, however, be her daughter’s punching bag (there’s a big difference)! She gets real about her marriage and how it can be annoying to carry the majority of the housework.
Her post entitled, “A bunch of things I do that my hubby doesn’t appreciate because he probably doesn’t even know I do them” makes that pretty apparent. To be clear, she does love her husband. Her main complaint is that she has to ask him to contribute to household chores. (See, I told you she was relatable.)
Honey-Do List
So, Mommy Sideburns decided to take action.
She asked her husband to run to the store for some needed items. The shopping list included things like 3% milk, non-fat hummus, “unsour” cream, and seedless strawberries among other nonexistent things. She captioned the photo: “OMG my hubby has been lying on the couch all morning while I’m doing soooo much stuff so I finally got super annoyed and sent him to the grocery store… with a special shopping list. And yes, I turned my ringer off. #passiveaggressive #ifeelbetter #marriage.”
The post quickly went viral, with several women commenting on the genius of the list. One commenter said, “I’m dying laughing right now! Too bad you don’t have a hidden cam at the grocery so we could watch all the confusion unfold!”
Another commented, “Can’t wait to hear what he actually bought. Mine would just misread the list, not ask anyone for help while there, then come home with the real stuff, and not even notice it was wrong.”
And others warned her of retribution stating, “If he ever asks you to get his board stretcher, it’s revenge for this list, don’t fall for it!”
While we don’t know if her husband actually fell for the nonsensical list, it’s fun to think about. Maybe he’s still out there searching for those seedless strawberries in vain.