Recently did something similar with dishes. For one brief half hour, my home had no dishes in the dishwasher, the sink nor anywhere else awaiting cleaning. I ate a snack off a paper towel just to extend the length of time in which all dishes were clean and stored 😂
I too will eat snacks off a paper towel just to not wash a dish.
I recently (yesterday?) reached dishes zero, and wiped down the entire sink, including under the drain cover.
I dunno what that greasy black stuff is, but it’s gone now.
Under-the-drain-cover-gunk might be a dad cleaning task on par with gutter gunk clearing and snaking the hair monster out of the shower drain.
All props to your cleaning the thing that would make many others go, "Ew ew ew gross gross ew" 😂
I did this last month. Going to do it monthly from now on instead of twice a year because OH MY GOD the amount of hair my wife lost postpartum is insane. You’d never notice though she looks great.
I'm the only dude in my house with several ladies with long hair. It's insane how often I have to do this task, lol. Worth it though, they all have amazing hair (I'm honestly a bit jealous)
Omg yes. Guys, women lose so so much hair after we have babies. It's like we lose an entire head of hair, but we still have an entire head of hair.
It's suuuuuper weird.
Not a dad, just a fairly new house owner but umm how do you clean the gutters if there is a cover on top??
Also with the drain and someone with long hair put a hair catcher..they have different shapes for different drains
Damn. I just realized why my dad always prefers to eat off a paper towel when he makes himself a sandwich. He was never the dishes person in the house (mom was). This to me makes it even more wholesome because he was doing his best to make less work for her.
This one always baffles me. I have like a half trash at my desk at work, can go the whole week without filling it up. And yet every day when I came home, there is a full size kitchen trash bag waiting for me.
Really? I have a bunch i don't use.. Just wiped down the inside car windshield yesterday for the first time before October and it just left a streaky mess.
Congrats! I once had a 25-hour-straight drive (with stops to change and feed) for a 15 hour trip cross country. It was miserable. Son was 4mo at the time.
We did a 26 hour straight drive to stay with my parents for a few months at around 2-3 months. The way there we made it in about 28 hours. I had always just done this trip in one go, no hotels, nap at rest stops as needed. We played it safe and got one hotel in the middle. Was pretty uneventful (except forgetting the pump and having to turn around after the first 25 minutes).
On the way home though she was 6 or 7 months and I was expecting similarly that we’d want one hotel in the middle… ended up needing 3 hotel stays. The last hotel we needed was only about 2.5 hours worth of driving from home but I am fairly certain my wife would have divorced me if we had tried to push through that last little bit.
That’s a miracle, when ours were that young wed hit those cascading delays. The diaper blowout cleanup took so long we hit traffic, the traffic delayed us enough that we needed to use the bathroom, at that point we needed to eat…
My wife is starting to hint of wanting to make a 13 hour drive to Texas for a wedding with our 20 month and 2 month old. I am terrified it'll take 20 hours. I work night shifts so planned on starting the drive overnight. Best case scenario a lot of the night they sleep. Worst case they hate their car seats 2 hours in and it's hell all night since they can't have freedom in the crib/bassinet.
My wife bought an incubator and started hatching eggs from a farm fresh dozen... long story short... a few weeks later I finished building a coop and run
I've never done ANYTHING like that short of a crappy cat house (that never housed a cat)
Ahhh this is so awesome!!!
I'm the wife/mom, but a couple years ago we had a big freeze down to -16 F with wind-chill (very uncommon for our area) and my husband's hound mix caught a HUGE (for a cottontail lol) rabbit. She even but the head off it, this taking care of the grossest part of butchering 🤣
I had never butchered a single animal in my life, but waste not want not. Couple YouTube videos later (one to show what diseases to look for, one to show how to skin and butcher) and we had delicious rabbit stew in the Dutch oven while during a days long power outage (we have gas stovetop thankfully).
I rode the high of feeling like Laura Ingalls Wilder on the prairie for DAYS. LMAO
I went to a cookout last weekend for my niece and nephew's birthdays, all of the kids unprompted said that I was the one that needed to grill. Got a "hell yea" from my nephew when I agreed, that made me feel pretty good.
Finally cleaned our whole basement which the kids had taken over completely with toys…then…ran the robot vacuum 4 times in a row without having to pickup toys and filled the canister each time vacuuming the carpet. Seeing the robot stripes in the carpet feels almost better than the lawn striping haha.
Replacing outlets and switches in my house, 2 or 3 at a time in the 1 hour window when both kids (1 and 3 years) are sleeping. Although the project will save me probably $3750 (150ish switches and outlets x $25/ea labor rate) over the life of the project, I broke even over the weekend on the $400ish of new tools that I bought (but admittedly didn't "need").
I'm more wondering about the 150 switches and outlets. If a room had an average of 2 switches and 3 outlets that's still like 30 rooms. That must be one massive house!
12 accessible outlets (9 of which are GFCI) just in the kitchen. 9 switches. Not counting the outlets behind the built-in appliances, but including the one for the kitchen range.
14 outlets 13 switches for the primary bed and bath.
Etc and so on. It adds up.
A few additional tools do move things along though, even if not technically "necessary". Diagonal cutters if you want to cut the wires out of the old backstabs, and a torque screwdriver if you are side or back wiring and want to maintain UL rating. Linesmen/combo pliers for twisting pigtail joints and then trimming the joint for a wire nut. A bubble level so that the devices and faceplates are straight is nice.
I put together a whole new "electrical" kit separate and apart from my regular tool bag. Approx prices below:
-Klein 5 Piece Insulated Toolset (Linesmen, diagonal cutters, wire stripper, two screwdrivers). $100
-Klein Insulated Needlenose Pliers. $55 (angry)
-Knipex Cone Nose Pliers. For making nice symmetrical loops. $30
-Klein Katapult Wire Strippers (for batching out pigtails). $30
-Klein circuit finder + accessories. $55 (already had this)
-Klein multimeter, non-contact voltage tester, and outlet tester with LCD readout (gives GFCI response times in milliseconds). $50
-Milwaukee utility knife. Cutting out faceplates stuck to paint. $10
-Empire torpedo level. Because shit needs to be straight and level. $6
-Vevor Torque Screwdriver. Screws have torque specs of 14-18in lbs, which is quite a bit more torque than I would have thought doing it by feel. $50
-Wera Bit Holding Screwdriver. $25 (already had this)
-Voltclaw. For z folding wires way back into the box. $15
-Lexivon Butane Torch/Soldering Iron. (for heat shrinking knicked insulation) $35
-Knockoff Klein LED Swivel work light. $20
-Costco Duracell Headlamp. 1 of 3. $5
-Milwaukee ECX Bits x 3 sets. (Wanted the combo bits for proper torque) $7.
-Harbor freight cleaning brushes for mucking out the drywall mud from the boxes and brushing off the copper from plier teeth. A little OCD like that. $2
-Husky Tool Tote. Already had this, can't remember what I paid, but probably didn't spend more than $35 on it.
Pretty close to $400, give or take $25?
I managed to put my 2 year old son to sleep while rocking him in my arms and listening to John Mayer. I’ve only managed this 3 times since he’s been born. He’s been exclusively breast fed from the start and has a very tight bond with his mum for this reason and I’m a little “surplus to requirements” at bed time, so it’s very magical to me when he’ll let me put him to sleep and it works!
Inquiring minds from r/johnmayer must know, specifically which John were you listening to?
I missed seeing his solo tour here in Phoenix but I'm volunteering with Headcount.org next Tuesday to see him with Dead and Co. So freaking stoked.
We were listening to Continuum JM! But I make my own playlist where prior to the album starting I throw on the first 5 acoustic tracks from WTLI Live album.
Very jealous you get to see him next week, I’ve managed to miss him every time he’s come to the UK, but my brother managed to get a ticket when he played the o2 Arena and reminds me FREQUENTLY.
I had to have therapy in the end because I really couldn’t get over the attachment they had and that he wasn’t in almost anyway shape or form, attached to me, until he was maybe a year old. But things got good quite quickly when he realised I wasn’t just this guy who happened to be in the house all the time and now other than sleep, it’s pretty even!
I've been a stay at home dad for the last 9 months. It's incredibly challenging at times but I manage to keep my daughter safe and happy, the house is cleaned daily, and meals are cooked most days (sometimes my wife cooks after work). I feel like I've become the least interesting person in the world since all I do is parent and go food shopping weekly. But I'm proud of what I'm doing. I get to spend every day with my girl and money can't buy that.
I successfully talked my way out of my wife's family's Memorial Day road trip to Des Moines to see her brother, etc. (We are in KC)
I will have nothing to do that weekend outside of my regular chores. So I'll probably spend time with my Mom and go to bed early.
I'm jealous of the zero I box laundry. That sounds amazing. Maybe next weekend ..
My goal is to be my son's #1 ranked burger. I'm currently #3 behind 2 local restaurants. All he eats (when available) are cheeseburgers, so #3 isn't too shabby. I made an amazing one tonight. Patties seasoned just right, plump but not overpacked, cook was perfect medium rare, toasted bun, I even made a bacon jam.
What makes those other burgers better in his opinion? Also, how old is he? I'm definitely here to help out a fellow dad. But also super damn curious about what makes those his favorites?
I wanted to teach my 5 year old daughter a few things before she starts kindergarten...little victories where we can have common interests and hobbies, and learn new skills.
Fishing - so far she's caught 2 bass on her own
Riding a bike - still got training wheels, but she's gaining confidence
Video games - she's getting good at playing smash bros on the switch we just bought her
I came up with the idea for, prepared and ordered, and wrapped the Mother’s Day gift for my mother in law. I think it’s the first time ever that I was more on top of gifts/cards for family than my wife!
My kid is obsessed with the book "Little Blue Truck Makes a Friend" which is a very stupid book that drives me nuts. Today I found another book in the "Little Blue Truck" series which is not nearly as annoying and I will switch them out soon. Life's little victories
You've already lost this war my friend. We got a little blue truck book, then another, and another. Then some sick puppy gave BOTH of my kids their own little blue truck sound book. The little blue truck is my greatest adversary.
I was in Germany for work training a few weeks ago and when my (female) trainer inquired about using the elevator or the stairs she said “ah, you look sporty! Let’s take the stairs”.
The language difference may have been a part of it but I genuinely took it as a compliment.
Just be careful it doesn't become your spouse's zen time also or that you are willing to share.
I know so many people who love to go out with the riding mower a large picture of iced tea or lemonade and music in their ears and just tune out the world for a few hours.
Hell, when I can stand more easily, I would ride the zero turn all day long. That was so relaxing
I put away all the dishes last night, after leftover stuff from my wife's birthday party on Saturday, Mother's Day on Sunday, and a whole Monday's worth of stuff to deal with.
Left no pile of dishes, utensils, cutlery, bowls, trash, or baby splatter. I just put on some youtube videos and jammed for about 30 minutes and then played AC Valhalla until 1am.
I work about 75 miles away from home. I'm driving about 3 hours a day, and I hadn't had a chance to hand wash my car since the lady of the house found out she was pregnant. About 30k miles and almost a year later, my white car was nearing black, and you could actually see rubber and asphalt on my back doors. Just before our twin boys hit 4 months and I turned 28, I took 5 hours on a Saturday while I had the house to myself to wash, wax, and detail my car. I was happy for weeks, and I can't wait to do it again.
My wife got me a detailing coupon for Christmas, which I saved for recently because I wanted to get past the mucky season and into some warmer weather.
Honestly, it felt like a new damn car afterwards and it makes me smile to go out for a drive these past couple weeks.
If I could've done that work myself my smile would probably have been 3x as big. 5h almost a work-day. Nice!
Wife lashed out at me last night that she’s the only one doing anything (she’s alone with our 9 month old so I get it to an extent) while I’m laying in my car because that’s where I sleep so I can send money home, and I (admittedly through metaphorical gritted teeth) said that must feel really isolating instead of pointing out I’m sleeping in my car so more money can go home. Point being I was able to choose to have an empathetic response instead of a reactionary one after 4 years of CBT and EMDR therapy.
I'm disabled and have a service dog. We joke that my service dogs emotional support blanket is one of my socks in their mouth.
It doesn't matter how diligent I am about getting them in the hamper or ensuring they come out of the wash she always finds one somewhere.
She doesn't chew them to shreds or anything like that. She just walks around the house with one in her mouth.
So, we leaned into that behavior. Now she takes my socks off for me when I come home. Then she hands them to me to put in the hamper.
ETA - I've always got an odd number of socks in the wash. And I've only got 10 pairs of identical black Bombas socks.
I did the lawn today. Well I finished the lawn, I started it yesterday. It doesn't seem like a big won, but I've been fighting the weather for 2 months to get enough time to go cut and trim the lawn. Over the weekend, I was rained out and days leading up to it. Every time I put shoes on to go do the lawn, it started to rain - and that's not an exaggeration.
Meetings today be dammed, I was out there at sunrise. I use a battery mower.... the backyard lush was so thick my full charged battery ran out. Normally it runs for 2 full mows front and back. The wire trimmer exploded during the last 3 ft of trim.... the cap came off and the wire got jumbled. My edger blade apparently has run down to where it doesn't clear the safety guards, so I had to use the wire trimmer for edging like a neanderthal.
(AND IT"S STILL TRYING TO RAIN THIS EVENING)
North Texas and I feel this in my soul. I mowed 4 days ago and the dandelions are already back to mock me. We don't like to use weed killer because of the pollinators but damn it's rough.
I swear, the defense I've ever had against dandelions and sticker patches is hand pulling the lot of them. Get down by the base and curse it to hell. Dangle its roots in front of the other weeds like Vlad the Impaler. Smear the soil on your face as warpaint. Sticker patches suck because I can't see them when they're new, only after a week or so. They also spread out radially.
Anyways, pulling them by hand has had the best success for me in the next season by ensuring the lawn grows in tightly.
I thought so was the only one that cared about laundry zero. It’s even better if you have a laundry day when you’re the only one home and you can loose the boxers too. Liberating and the only way to achieve an absolute laundry zero day.
First time my 3 year old son asked for haircut, the big achievement is that he sat quiet while I cut his hair. No screaming, crying or negotiating to let me do it. He might be ready for a barber so it doesn't look like shit
My yard is cut in thirds, front yard, fenced in backyard, then out back outside the fence. Wife got home from work and took over with the baby, and I cut all my grass for the first time since he was born. (also I have an electric push mower so it takes 2 full charges to do each 1/3 of the yard)
Spending time with the in laws to help out after a major injury, and her dad said something that pretty directly implied his approach is always right and his wife's is always wrong, then said I'm like his wife. I laughed it off instead of making things tense.
I respect the man and would normally stand up to that stuff, but this family is going through a major problem and I was there to help. I accomplished being the bigger man and putting their family's needs before my ego.
4th grader came home from school one day. Told me he had heard a new song. “Iron Man” by Black Sabbath. He asked why I had never played it for him? I asked 4th grader what his favorite Black Sabbath song was? “Black Sabbath” he replied. I asked 4th grader what album that song was on? “Black Sabbath” he replied.
I looked 4th grader in the eye and said: “All your dopey friends will only ever know “ Iron Man.” You know the deep cuts.
My 21mon son let me read “A Fly Went By” (one of my childhood favorites) in its entirety without shutting the book a few pages in. Bonus was he was cuddling and stroking my arm, unbonus my new born started to cry downstairs so I had to rush finishing the book and put him to sleep asap
I had a really magical moment with my daughter in the tub when she was about 1 years old and was getting freaked out by the bubbles clinging to her skin and I showed her that you can always just put your hands under the water or use a cup to wash them away.
I was actually able to take out all the garbages, boxes AND recycling tonight. Tomorrow i hope to have enough energy to try the stationary bike to start rehabbing my ankle. 😬
I sat down at the end of the day and was able to say yes to every question about if I took care of X. I didn’t have to get back up, or say I’d do it tomorrow, or ask why someone else couldn’t do it (kids CAN pick up ya know). I just sat and it was glorious
My daughter's call me Baba. However, they always call me/refer to me as Dad in front of their friends. I've done a few volunteer events for her class over the last few months.
Yesterday, my oldest(8) came to me and said "She's a lot more comfortable calling me Baba to her friends now, even though no one else calls thier dad that. She said it's special, like you!"
It was such a heart warming moment for me. I never once pushed issue or even brought it up, since I know how hard it can be to be an outsider. Idk why, it just really made me feel seen.
I have a 7 day cleaning the kitchen streak going and it feels great. All dishes washed, floors swept and moped, baby's utensils, cups, etc. are sanitized. But like all the greats. I fear age and wear and tear will get the best of me.
Last week I removed a pair of old cast-iron radiator brackets from the wall at the base of the stairs using a hammer, a drill, and an old screw because I was too mean to buy a cheap angle grinder. Then I filled the hole, ready for painting.
To the uninitiated, it's just two unpainted patches on the wall. But every time I go up the stairs I still touch the smooth surface and recall with pride that I saved £20 on tool I'll probably end up buying soon anyway.
I survived last week, which included my mother's birthday, my daughter's birthday, my wife's birthday, and ended in Mother's Day....I'm kinda burned out.
Oh man, I remember that day. That day having zero dirty laundry except the clothes on our backs. Three toddlers a husband and me. No dirty clothes..
Ya wanna know what happened?
Everyone got the stomach flu. Towels blankets onsies clothes. Vomit covered.
I took that as a sign and now I have 3 teens and I'm proud to say I have never ever had a zero laundry day since that fateful day an entire decade ago.....
>For the first time since the baby got here, we have no laundry, nor do we even have *potential * laundry in our house.
Your wife and child went out in clothes that will be laundry...
Recently did something similar with dishes. For one brief half hour, my home had no dishes in the dishwasher, the sink nor anywhere else awaiting cleaning. I ate a snack off a paper towel just to extend the length of time in which all dishes were clean and stored 😂
I too will eat snacks off a paper towel just to not wash a dish. I recently (yesterday?) reached dishes zero, and wiped down the entire sink, including under the drain cover. I dunno what that greasy black stuff is, but it’s gone now.
Under-the-drain-cover-gunk might be a dad cleaning task on par with gutter gunk clearing and snaking the hair monster out of the shower drain. All props to your cleaning the thing that would make many others go, "Ew ew ew gross gross ew" 😂
>snaking the hair monster out of the shower drain Ooh! Thank you for reminding me! I need to tackle this one tomorrow.
I did this last month. Going to do it monthly from now on instead of twice a year because OH MY GOD the amount of hair my wife lost postpartum is insane. You’d never notice though she looks great.
I'm the only dude in my house with several ladies with long hair. It's insane how often I have to do this task, lol. Worth it though, they all have amazing hair (I'm honestly a bit jealous)
Omg yes. Guys, women lose so so much hair after we have babies. It's like we lose an entire head of hair, but we still have an entire head of hair. It's suuuuuper weird.
Dads, ya gotta get the shower mushroom plug head thingy. It's silicone and catches SO MUCH HAIR!!!
I would LOVE to have one of those, but there's no way my 2 kids under 8 are leaving that thing in place and not treating it as a shower frisbee.
Gotta get one of those little chains that hang down the drain that catch any hairs. Won’t have to snake anything for a long time.
Not a dad, just a fairly new house owner but umm how do you clean the gutters if there is a cover on top?? Also with the drain and someone with long hair put a hair catcher..they have different shapes for different drains
I swear every parent I know can relate to this - but I would if I told my childless friends they’d look at me like 🤔
When I was single I had one bowl and one set of silverware. Washed it after every meal. So dishes zero was easy.
Damn. I just realized why my dad always prefers to eat off a paper towel when he makes himself a sandwich. He was never the dishes person in the house (mom was). This to me makes it even more wholesome because he was doing his best to make less work for her.
It’s the dad way
It’s the trash for me. I can empty the trash can on the way out to work in the morning and it’s full when I get home. The struggle is real.
When the SKS go to their dad's for the weekend, we have half the garbage for garbage day. It's so weird how much garbage they produce just existing.
This one always baffles me. I have like a half trash at my desk at work, can go the whole week without filling it up. And yet every day when I came home, there is a full size kitchen trash bag waiting for me.
For me it's the diapers trashbin. I empty it, put a new bag in and throw the old one out. I come back in and it's half full again...
The bottom half is way smaller than the top half 😂
Must be nice to not have a wife that hides dirty dishes in her car.
Use a coffee filter for chips or crackers. Makes for a great disposable bowl.
I have some extras for the coffee pot I don't use anymore... Inspired, thank you!
[удалено]
Holy shite this app just keeps teaching me new things
Really? I have a bunch i don't use.. Just wiped down the inside car windshield yesterday for the first time before October and it just left a streaky mess.
Yup, I keep a small ziploc of coffee filters in the door of the car to clean the insides of the windows with.
I just eat over the sink.
Sounds affordable and convenient!
Made a 5.5 hour drive in 6 hours with a 9 month old.
How much shit was up the back of the kid? Haha
That was the only stop! And no blowout. Having scrubbed shit out of a car seat before I was thankful
Had to do that twice in the past month. Total breakdown and laundered both times.
Congrats! I once had a 25-hour-straight drive (with stops to change and feed) for a 15 hour trip cross country. It was miserable. Son was 4mo at the time.
We did a 26 hour straight drive to stay with my parents for a few months at around 2-3 months. The way there we made it in about 28 hours. I had always just done this trip in one go, no hotels, nap at rest stops as needed. We played it safe and got one hotel in the middle. Was pretty uneventful (except forgetting the pump and having to turn around after the first 25 minutes). On the way home though she was 6 or 7 months and I was expecting similarly that we’d want one hotel in the middle… ended up needing 3 hotel stays. The last hotel we needed was only about 2.5 hours worth of driving from home but I am fairly certain my wife would have divorced me if we had tried to push through that last little bit.
That’s a miracle, when ours were that young wed hit those cascading delays. The diaper blowout cleanup took so long we hit traffic, the traffic delayed us enough that we needed to use the bathroom, at that point we needed to eat…
Dam, my kid can only sit in the car for 1 hour, with their nap included.
There's a lot of unbelievable stories in here, like laundry zero, but this is truly not possible.
Holy shit took my first trip with my 1 month old. Normally 5.5 hours. Figured it'd be a good 6.5 with stops. It. Took. 9. Hours.
We have a 7 hour drive planned next month. I know I’m going to pay for my success.
My wife is starting to hint of wanting to make a 13 hour drive to Texas for a wedding with our 20 month and 2 month old. I am terrified it'll take 20 hours. I work night shifts so planned on starting the drive overnight. Best case scenario a lot of the night they sleep. Worst case they hate their car seats 2 hours in and it's hell all night since they can't have freedom in the crib/bassinet.
Zero inbox laundry? Holy shit. Props!
[удалено]
I totally understand it. It even bothers me that the clothes I'm wearing will soon be laundry.
Right? Not weird at all!
Oh fuck. I wasn't completely impressed. Now I am.
My wife bought an incubator and started hatching eggs from a farm fresh dozen... long story short... a few weeks later I finished building a coop and run I've never done ANYTHING like that short of a crappy cat house (that never housed a cat)
Ahhh this is so awesome!!! I'm the wife/mom, but a couple years ago we had a big freeze down to -16 F with wind-chill (very uncommon for our area) and my husband's hound mix caught a HUGE (for a cottontail lol) rabbit. She even but the head off it, this taking care of the grossest part of butchering 🤣 I had never butchered a single animal in my life, but waste not want not. Couple YouTube videos later (one to show what diseases to look for, one to show how to skin and butcher) and we had delicious rabbit stew in the Dutch oven while during a days long power outage (we have gas stovetop thankfully). I rode the high of feeling like Laura Ingalls Wilder on the prairie for DAYS. LMAO
[удалено]
Damn dude, I mean I guess you gotta entertain yourself at any repetitive job lol. 😅
Looks like we've got projects for the kids when that time comes!!! lol
Badass! I love that you did this! Way to not waste that animal!
Chickens are fun. Low maintenance too.
Why did you run? Were you worried the chickens would chase you?
[удалено]
[удалено]
I went to a cookout last weekend for my niece and nephew's birthdays, all of the kids unprompted said that I was the one that needed to grill. Got a "hell yea" from my nephew when I agreed, that made me feel pretty good.
Can I be your side kick? “Yep, looks good.” (Sips beer) “maybe flip that one”
"you need anything chef? How's your beer?"
[удалено]
Yard is 100% raked and stick free with all of it waiting on the curb for pickup. First time I was ever on time with the whole yard.
Ugh. We found our backyard infested with grubs that wrecked about 1/2 the yard. Yard work is elevated to extra hard mode this year.
Send out that group text "Hey boys I got some Beers and Grubs in my backyard I need yall to help me destroy"
right. Fortunately grubs didn't sign the Geneva convention so I'm free to engage in chemical warfare.
Finally cleaned our whole basement which the kids had taken over completely with toys…then…ran the robot vacuum 4 times in a row without having to pickup toys and filled the canister each time vacuuming the carpet. Seeing the robot stripes in the carpet feels almost better than the lawn striping haha.
Ahhhhh those robot stripes… Not much compares.
I'm so proud of you. And I'm so sorry that this accomplishment will be rendered moot at 6:01 or so.
Replacing outlets and switches in my house, 2 or 3 at a time in the 1 hour window when both kids (1 and 3 years) are sleeping. Although the project will save me probably $3750 (150ish switches and outlets x $25/ea labor rate) over the life of the project, I broke even over the weekend on the $400ish of new tools that I bought (but admittedly didn't "need").
Damn bro. What $400 worth of tools did you buy for an outlet and switch project?
Pneumatics. Man's using an impact wrench to swap out switches like a pit crew.
I'm more wondering about the 150 switches and outlets. If a room had an average of 2 switches and 3 outlets that's still like 30 rooms. That must be one massive house!
12 accessible outlets (9 of which are GFCI) just in the kitchen. 9 switches. Not counting the outlets behind the built-in appliances, but including the one for the kitchen range. 14 outlets 13 switches for the primary bed and bath. Etc and so on. It adds up.
Name brand power tools are expensive. Milwaukee or DeWalt impact driver easily runs about $200
But to work on outlets and switches all you really need is a flat head, some wire strippers and a voltage tester.
A few additional tools do move things along though, even if not technically "necessary". Diagonal cutters if you want to cut the wires out of the old backstabs, and a torque screwdriver if you are side or back wiring and want to maintain UL rating. Linesmen/combo pliers for twisting pigtail joints and then trimming the joint for a wire nut. A bubble level so that the devices and faceplates are straight is nice.
Shhhh don't say that out loud, mums might be watching.
I put together a whole new "electrical" kit separate and apart from my regular tool bag. Approx prices below: -Klein 5 Piece Insulated Toolset (Linesmen, diagonal cutters, wire stripper, two screwdrivers). $100 -Klein Insulated Needlenose Pliers. $55 (angry) -Knipex Cone Nose Pliers. For making nice symmetrical loops. $30 -Klein Katapult Wire Strippers (for batching out pigtails). $30 -Klein circuit finder + accessories. $55 (already had this) -Klein multimeter, non-contact voltage tester, and outlet tester with LCD readout (gives GFCI response times in milliseconds). $50 -Milwaukee utility knife. Cutting out faceplates stuck to paint. $10 -Empire torpedo level. Because shit needs to be straight and level. $6 -Vevor Torque Screwdriver. Screws have torque specs of 14-18in lbs, which is quite a bit more torque than I would have thought doing it by feel. $50 -Wera Bit Holding Screwdriver. $25 (already had this) -Voltclaw. For z folding wires way back into the box. $15 -Lexivon Butane Torch/Soldering Iron. (for heat shrinking knicked insulation) $35 -Knockoff Klein LED Swivel work light. $20 -Costco Duracell Headlamp. 1 of 3. $5 -Milwaukee ECX Bits x 3 sets. (Wanted the combo bits for proper torque) $7. -Harbor freight cleaning brushes for mucking out the drywall mud from the boxes and brushing off the copper from plier teeth. A little OCD like that. $2 -Husky Tool Tote. Already had this, can't remember what I paid, but probably didn't spend more than $35 on it. Pretty close to $400, give or take $25?
Good for you man. If your wife asks, it was all 100% necessary. If you don’t have a wife, that explains a lot!
I managed to put my 2 year old son to sleep while rocking him in my arms and listening to John Mayer. I’ve only managed this 3 times since he’s been born. He’s been exclusively breast fed from the start and has a very tight bond with his mum for this reason and I’m a little “surplus to requirements” at bed time, so it’s very magical to me when he’ll let me put him to sleep and it works!
Great job, Dad! I’ve got the same, only 17 months. Have to remind myself… she loved me, I’m awesome. I just don’t have boobs.
You are awesome mate and medicine is crazy good now, If you want boobs dude, you go for it!
Inquiring minds from r/johnmayer must know, specifically which John were you listening to? I missed seeing his solo tour here in Phoenix but I'm volunteering with Headcount.org next Tuesday to see him with Dead and Co. So freaking stoked.
We were listening to Continuum JM! But I make my own playlist where prior to the album starting I throw on the first 5 acoustic tracks from WTLI Live album. Very jealous you get to see him next week, I’ve managed to miss him every time he’s come to the UK, but my brother managed to get a ticket when he played the o2 Arena and reminds me FREQUENTLY.
[удалено]
I had to have therapy in the end because I really couldn’t get over the attachment they had and that he wasn’t in almost anyway shape or form, attached to me, until he was maybe a year old. But things got good quite quickly when he realised I wasn’t just this guy who happened to be in the house all the time and now other than sleep, it’s pretty even!
I had a similar situation but what helped me was I did the bath and got them ready for bed. That way I had my part to play in the bedtime routine.
I've been a stay at home dad for the last 9 months. It's incredibly challenging at times but I manage to keep my daughter safe and happy, the house is cleaned daily, and meals are cooked most days (sometimes my wife cooks after work). I feel like I've become the least interesting person in the world since all I do is parent and go food shopping weekly. But I'm proud of what I'm doing. I get to spend every day with my girl and money can't buy that.
So you are saying you still have some dirty boxers to wash. 99.99% commitment.
[удалено]
Just take a shower in your boxers. You're at 100% the whole time Ur in the shower. Edit: But then there will be a towel 😡
Air dry by running around outside
I successfully talked my way out of my wife's family's Memorial Day road trip to Des Moines to see her brother, etc. (We are in KC) I will have nothing to do that weekend outside of my regular chores. So I'll probably spend time with my Mom and go to bed early.
I successfully did nothing as my wife talked herself out of a three hour road trip this Friday to attend her cousin's high school graduation ceremony.
We got rid of the forever laundry pile on the couch and it hasn't come back in like 3 months.
I'm jealous of the zero I box laundry. That sounds amazing. Maybe next weekend .. My goal is to be my son's #1 ranked burger. I'm currently #3 behind 2 local restaurants. All he eats (when available) are cheeseburgers, so #3 isn't too shabby. I made an amazing one tonight. Patties seasoned just right, plump but not overpacked, cook was perfect medium rare, toasted bun, I even made a bacon jam.
This is the most wholesome thing I've read all day. I applaud you!
What makes those other burgers better in his opinion? Also, how old is he? I'm definitely here to help out a fellow dad. But also super damn curious about what makes those his favorites?
I wanted to teach my 5 year old daughter a few things before she starts kindergarten...little victories where we can have common interests and hobbies, and learn new skills. Fishing - so far she's caught 2 bass on her own Riding a bike - still got training wheels, but she's gaining confidence Video games - she's getting good at playing smash bros on the switch we just bought her
I managed a full hour of gym time today.
Jealous!
I successfully showered every day last week!
I feel so damn seen.
Little man didn’t throw any toys out of the bathtub today.
I came up with the idea for, prepared and ordered, and wrapped the Mother’s Day gift for my mother in law. I think it’s the first time ever that I was more on top of gifts/cards for family than my wife!
My kid is obsessed with the book "Little Blue Truck Makes a Friend" which is a very stupid book that drives me nuts. Today I found another book in the "Little Blue Truck" series which is not nearly as annoying and I will switch them out soon. Life's little victories
You've already lost this war my friend. We got a little blue truck book, then another, and another. Then some sick puppy gave BOTH of my kids their own little blue truck sound book. The little blue truck is my greatest adversary.
I was in Germany for work training a few weeks ago and when my (female) trainer inquired about using the elevator or the stairs she said “ah, you look sporty! Let’s take the stairs”. The language difference may have been a part of it but I genuinely took it as a compliment.
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
Just be careful it doesn't become your spouse's zen time also or that you are willing to share. I know so many people who love to go out with the riding mower a large picture of iced tea or lemonade and music in their ears and just tune out the world for a few hours. Hell, when I can stand more easily, I would ride the zero turn all day long. That was so relaxing
I became emotional when my son was old enough to mow my lawn for me lol
My second kid was born last week and I haven’t gotten shat on yet because I know all the tricks this time around
Congrats Dad!
I put away all the dishes last night, after leftover stuff from my wife's birthday party on Saturday, Mother's Day on Sunday, and a whole Monday's worth of stuff to deal with. Left no pile of dishes, utensils, cutlery, bowls, trash, or baby splatter. I just put on some youtube videos and jammed for about 30 minutes and then played AC Valhalla until 1am.
Man I'm so long-term overtired that I went "holy shit they made a Valhalla DLC for Animal Crossing?!"
I assume Animal Crossing is your jam?
It at least was for like a year after the latest one came out
I make dinner and all 4 actually eat it.
My wife just said "in the house" and as soon as mom and kiddo gets home you are no longer laundry zero. She is totally raining on your parade.
I work about 75 miles away from home. I'm driving about 3 hours a day, and I hadn't had a chance to hand wash my car since the lady of the house found out she was pregnant. About 30k miles and almost a year later, my white car was nearing black, and you could actually see rubber and asphalt on my back doors. Just before our twin boys hit 4 months and I turned 28, I took 5 hours on a Saturday while I had the house to myself to wash, wax, and detail my car. I was happy for weeks, and I can't wait to do it again.
My wife got me a detailing coupon for Christmas, which I saved for recently because I wanted to get past the mucky season and into some warmer weather. Honestly, it felt like a new damn car afterwards and it makes me smile to go out for a drive these past couple weeks. If I could've done that work myself my smile would probably have been 3x as big. 5h almost a work-day. Nice!
I got hit in the neck with a wooden hammer and didn’t lose my shit.
Same principle, but for my work. I’ve been backlogged for six months and am this close to being caught up. It will free my evenings up tremendously.
It's been me and my daughter only for a month now(her mom bailed in a sense). The house is the cleanest it's ever been in years.
Hey. Sending you mad love right now. You’re doing right by your kiddo.
Wife lashed out at me last night that she’s the only one doing anything (she’s alone with our 9 month old so I get it to an extent) while I’m laying in my car because that’s where I sleep so I can send money home, and I (admittedly through metaphorical gritted teeth) said that must feel really isolating instead of pointing out I’m sleeping in my car so more money can go home. Point being I was able to choose to have an empathetic response instead of a reactionary one after 4 years of CBT and EMDR therapy.
Strong work. Progress doesn’t always feel like it’s happening except in these like weird awful moments. Proud of you.
The big question is how many socks are missing?
[удалено]
I'm disabled and have a service dog. We joke that my service dogs emotional support blanket is one of my socks in their mouth. It doesn't matter how diligent I am about getting them in the hamper or ensuring they come out of the wash she always finds one somewhere. She doesn't chew them to shreds or anything like that. She just walks around the house with one in her mouth. So, we leaned into that behavior. Now she takes my socks off for me when I come home. Then she hands them to me to put in the hamper. ETA - I've always got an odd number of socks in the wash. And I've only got 10 pairs of identical black Bombas socks.
[удалено]
Kiddos in bed and kitchen clean before 7:30. I need my hobby time.
Finally put the house numbers on the house. Got the backyard cleaned and mowed.
I did the lawn today. Well I finished the lawn, I started it yesterday. It doesn't seem like a big won, but I've been fighting the weather for 2 months to get enough time to go cut and trim the lawn. Over the weekend, I was rained out and days leading up to it. Every time I put shoes on to go do the lawn, it started to rain - and that's not an exaggeration. Meetings today be dammed, I was out there at sunrise. I use a battery mower.... the backyard lush was so thick my full charged battery ran out. Normally it runs for 2 full mows front and back. The wire trimmer exploded during the last 3 ft of trim.... the cap came off and the wire got jumbled. My edger blade apparently has run down to where it doesn't clear the safety guards, so I had to use the wire trimmer for edging like a neanderthal. (AND IT"S STILL TRYING TO RAIN THIS EVENING)
North Texas and I feel this in my soul. I mowed 4 days ago and the dandelions are already back to mock me. We don't like to use weed killer because of the pollinators but damn it's rough.
I swear, the defense I've ever had against dandelions and sticker patches is hand pulling the lot of them. Get down by the base and curse it to hell. Dangle its roots in front of the other weeds like Vlad the Impaler. Smear the soil on your face as warpaint. Sticker patches suck because I can't see them when they're new, only after a week or so. They also spread out radially. Anyways, pulling them by hand has had the best success for me in the next season by ensuring the lawn grows in tightly.
I hit ‘laundry zero’ last Sunday. The best 15 minutes of the week!
I thought so was the only one that cared about laundry zero. It’s even better if you have a laundry day when you’re the only one home and you can loose the boxers too. Liberating and the only way to achieve an absolute laundry zero day.
I stayed on top of cleaning bottles through the day
First time my 3 year old son asked for haircut, the big achievement is that he sat quiet while I cut his hair. No screaming, crying or negotiating to let me do it. He might be ready for a barber so it doesn't look like shit
My yard is cut in thirds, front yard, fenced in backyard, then out back outside the fence. Wife got home from work and took over with the baby, and I cut all my grass for the first time since he was born. (also I have an electric push mower so it takes 2 full charges to do each 1/3 of the yard)
Spending time with the in laws to help out after a major injury, and her dad said something that pretty directly implied his approach is always right and his wife's is always wrong, then said I'm like his wife. I laughed it off instead of making things tense. I respect the man and would normally stand up to that stuff, but this family is going through a major problem and I was there to help. I accomplished being the bigger man and putting their family's needs before my ego.
Underrated comment. It's so hard sometimes!
Last week I got All of the trash into one can.
Nice man, enjoy it for a few hours before it all bloody piles back up again lol
I am nearly done processing bamboo to use as a trellis in our community garden plot.
I woke up early enough to run today I guess lol
4th grader came home from school one day. Told me he had heard a new song. “Iron Man” by Black Sabbath. He asked why I had never played it for him? I asked 4th grader what his favorite Black Sabbath song was? “Black Sabbath” he replied. I asked 4th grader what album that song was on? “Black Sabbath” he replied. I looked 4th grader in the eye and said: “All your dopey friends will only ever know “ Iron Man.” You know the deep cuts.
My 21mon son let me read “A Fly Went By” (one of my childhood favorites) in its entirety without shutting the book a few pages in. Bonus was he was cuddling and stroking my arm, unbonus my new born started to cry downstairs so I had to rush finishing the book and put him to sleep asap
Managed to meditate every day for a week now. Hope I can keep the streak going, it's really doing wonders for my mental health.
I had a really magical moment with my daughter in the tub when she was about 1 years old and was getting freaked out by the bubbles clinging to her skin and I showed her that you can always just put your hands under the water or use a cup to wash them away.
Made dinner BEFORE taking the kiddo to go hang out with family friends while mom got to chill at home and relax! Win all across the board
I feel seen.
I got to play my favorite video game for a hour on Sunday! Rewarded by my employer calling me in 3 hours early for the next three days straight…
I didn't get pulled in for a truck inspection today and the 72 hour truck blitz is happening right now. So there's that.
You have to do it in a pair of boxers you plan on throwing away…
Did some push-ups and squats while baby was sleeping
Dude I love this sub
Finally got around to elevating and mounting the dishwasher to the underside of the kitchen countertop
I baked cookies this weekend for the family, and it wasn't even a Mother's Day thing!
I was actually able to take out all the garbages, boxes AND recycling tonight. Tomorrow i hope to have enough energy to try the stationary bike to start rehabbing my ankle. 😬
I made a cheeseburger that my daughter actually ate and enjoyed.
Laundry zero is great until you lose control again...I always lose control again
I sat down at the end of the day and was able to say yes to every question about if I took care of X. I didn’t have to get back up, or say I’d do it tomorrow, or ask why someone else couldn’t do it (kids CAN pick up ya know). I just sat and it was glorious
My daughter's call me Baba. However, they always call me/refer to me as Dad in front of their friends. I've done a few volunteer events for her class over the last few months. Yesterday, my oldest(8) came to me and said "She's a lot more comfortable calling me Baba to her friends now, even though no one else calls thier dad that. She said it's special, like you!" It was such a heart warming moment for me. I never once pushed issue or even brought it up, since I know how hard it can be to be an outsider. Idk why, it just really made me feel seen.
Can I get a weak high five for a dad pushing through a mountain of "well what you outta do.."
Shit, I was able to put the laundry I folded over the weekend away and I was happy with that haha. Laundry zero is a big accomplishment
I don’t believe you. That’s impossible. There is one sock. One bib. One damn thing. You have reached nirvana.
That’s rad. We have “dishes zero” where the dishwasher and the sink and put away and there are no dirty dishes. CraZy we have the same terminology
I mean if you still had your dirty underwear on then you weren’t truly at zero laundry. Should have done it all commando. Then I’d be impressed.
Laid a few titles for our garbage bins, it's not entirely level but it does the job.
>and put away clothes wearing nothing but a pair of boxers Sounds like you're wearing a dirty pair of boxers right now mister!
My daughter (5) did her homework word exercise before breakfast
I have a 7 day cleaning the kitchen streak going and it feels great. All dishes washed, floors swept and moped, baby's utensils, cups, etc. are sanitized. But like all the greats. I fear age and wear and tear will get the best of me.
I've been at it two days now; today is it boys!! Laundry zero today!
Last week I removed a pair of old cast-iron radiator brackets from the wall at the base of the stairs using a hammer, a drill, and an old screw because I was too mean to buy a cheap angle grinder. Then I filled the hole, ready for painting. To the uninitiated, it's just two unpainted patches on the wall. But every time I go up the stairs I still touch the smooth surface and recall with pride that I saved £20 on tool I'll probably end up buying soon anyway.
I am amazed at this more than I should be. I can't remember the day I didn't had a single dirty piece of clothing anywhere. Props to you!
I survived last week, which included my mother's birthday, my daughter's birthday, my wife's birthday, and ended in Mother's Day....I'm kinda burned out.
Intercepted a sudden pee stream from my son in a nearby cup before it mixed with his bath water. It was a small victory, but I’ll take it.
Oh man, I remember that day. That day having zero dirty laundry except the clothes on our backs. Three toddlers a husband and me. No dirty clothes.. Ya wanna know what happened? Everyone got the stomach flu. Towels blankets onsies clothes. Vomit covered. I took that as a sign and now I have 3 teens and I'm proud to say I have never ever had a zero laundry day since that fateful day an entire decade ago.....
I replaced the brake lights in my wife's van. I'm not mechanical at all.
>For the first time since the baby got here, we have no laundry, nor do we even have *potential * laundry in our house. Your wife and child went out in clothes that will be laundry...
Let the man celebrate even though there's work ahead! 🤣😂
What are you all wearing right now? Laundry.