Undermining Gender stereotypes - Ish

It has been some time since I have written, let alone done anything on this blog. I assure you I have not been abducted and forced into hard labor (oh, wait! I am a stay-at-home dad; this is hard labor!).

To bring you up to speed, the kids are great. Fourth grade (Wait. What?  Fourth? Grade?) First Grade (WTH? When did this happen?) and almost three (Wasn't she born last week?). And they are dancing.

All.

Of.

Them.

Three kids in dance. Two on competition teams. (I need to lie down. It packs quite a punch when I put it in writing.)

I'm better now (I hope; >*deep breaths, deep breaths*<). Things have been going along nicely around here. The older girls enjoy being sisters (translation: at each other's throats constantly for no other reason than it is something to do) and the littlest is coming into her own as the perfect mix of the other offspring with a healthy dose of antagonizing little sister. Life as normal with three girls under one roof.

My life as a stay-at-home dad is pretty normal. I do laundry, vacuum, cook meals, clean and tidy up the house, transportation to and from dance, and wash dishes. A lot of dishes. Sure, we do have a dishwasher, but there are things that aren't supposed to go into that time saving device. Sure, they probably could go in, but they will last longer if they don't. Things like pots and pans, stainless utensils, and delicate antiquities. Then there are the things that are used every day; such as specific plates that SHOULD be used (not that they must be served on them, its just easier for my mental well-being if they are, and that needs all the help it can get). Add to that the commonly used cooking and serving utensils and my butt is parked at the sink at least three times a day for what seems like hours on end. With all this quality time the sink and I spend together, my hands feel the brunt of it. Add to that potty training a toddler and keeping the various colds and nastiness that come home from school at bay, my hands are constantly wet. They get beat up; especially in the colder months. Right around the time the days grow shorter and the air gets chillier, my hands start to crack. And I have yet to find a suitable hand cream that is worthy of my manliness (or lack thereof) and keeps my hands soft for the ladies....😉

Like I said, I've tried lotions. Arm & Hammer had a good one, but it only works for a little while; and I'm not going to be putting lotion on every time I wash my hands. I'd need 55 gallon drums just to get through the month. As for the rest, the results are barely worth writing about. So I have set out on a quest to find the best gloves for dishwashing. And there are so many out there. Latex, spandex, rubber, non-latex, lined, unlined, wool, plastic, chainlink, and so on. I've tried them all. (well maybe not the last few. It just flowed and I'm going with it). I've gotten them at the grocery store. I've gotten them at the home improvement store. And the best I can say, there is a market for larger, masculine dish washing gloves. If you have a hook up or the where-with-all, you can make a buck. The ones that come from the home improvement stores look masculine in that they are black or grey and a little more rugged. But they are not as good as the dedicated cleaning gloves one finds in the cleaning isle at the grocery store. The good ones, in my opinion and experience, are non-latex and felt lined. The only non essential  drawback are the color choices; which have not stopped me from brandishing my lovely pastel protection complete the never ending cascade of dirty dinnerware.

I am seeing if any of my loyal readers know of a quality glove that is sturdy, non latex, lined, AND in a cool color. Flames would be nice. Skull and cross bones. Or even a primary color. I'm sick of looking at my light purple covered hands for hours on end.

My wife got me this shirt for Christmas and ever since I have been brainstorming this post. Today I wore it to the library group we go to. I noticed a few reading it and looking a tiny bit longer than normal. It may have been the cute kid with me. Or the shirt. Probably the kid; she is pretty darn cute. Anyhoo I decided I needed to actually write it instead of thinking about writing it and this was the inspiration.

I do not own this design. It's on a T-shirt.