Normally I’d be on his side but I’m with her (except for the last panel). Making lunches for the kids, especially as a substitute, is a delicate walk through a minefield.
I can see both sides of this. On Len’s side, yes, Abby’s not just being a mother hen, she’s also basically doing it herself anyway, so there’s not much point in Len interfering. But on Abby’s side, if Len stepped up to pitch in on this chore a little more often, he’d more likely know some of this stuff already and wouldn’t need the mother henning.
So it can go both ways.
Still funny though. I think a lot of us can all admit to being in situations like this.
When you ask someone to do something for you, let them do it. To micromanage (like here) or to follow up redoing everything (unless the person did something dangerous). No two people do the same thing the same way. That rarely means the other person is doing it wrong. Micromanaging or redoing clearly communicates that you think the person is incompetent, when in fact it’s just different. Nobody likes being told —verbally or nonverbally — that they’re incompetent.
I once had a college roommate who had a VERY specific way of loading the dishwasher. Every other way, including the dishwasher manual, was wrong. I’d load the dishwasher and then she’d follow and redo it, grumbling about it. She was the same way about vacuuming. If you didn’t vacuum behind the couches or under end tables (you couldn’t see under them unless you lay on the floor), then the place was “a pig sty.” It reached the point where I simply quit.
Alondra over 4 years ago
Give him another chore that you won’t have to mother hen him about.
Auntie Socialist over 4 years ago
Normally I’d be on his side but I’m with her (except for the last panel). Making lunches for the kids, especially as a substitute, is a delicate walk through a minefield.
scyphi26 over 4 years ago
I can see both sides of this. On Len’s side, yes, Abby’s not just being a mother hen, she’s also basically doing it herself anyway, so there’s not much point in Len interfering. But on Abby’s side, if Len stepped up to pitch in on this chore a little more often, he’d more likely know some of this stuff already and wouldn’t need the mother henning.
So it can go both ways.
Still funny though. I think a lot of us can all admit to being in situations like this.
Sassy's Mom over 4 years ago
When you ask someone to do something for you, let them do it. To micromanage (like here) or to follow up redoing everything (unless the person did something dangerous). No two people do the same thing the same way. That rarely means the other person is doing it wrong. Micromanaging or redoing clearly communicates that you think the person is incompetent, when in fact it’s just different. Nobody likes being told —verbally or nonverbally — that they’re incompetent.
I once had a college roommate who had a VERY specific way of loading the dishwasher. Every other way, including the dishwasher manual, was wrong. I’d load the dishwasher and then she’d follow and redo it, grumbling about it. She was the same way about vacuuming. If you didn’t vacuum behind the couches or under end tables (you couldn’t see under them unless you lay on the floor), then the place was “a pig sty.” It reached the point where I simply quit.