Little Red Hen

I am the Little Red Hen.

I wash the clothes and put them away. I change the sheets and clean the bathroom and change the towels and vacuum the entire house. I dust, I cook, and I even do windows, which includes the skylights, but only from the outside because I'm 5'2" and can't reach the inside, even with a ladder, because the ceiling is 12 feet tall.

Zel usually helps me do the dishes (we don't have an automatic dishwasher). He sometimes helps me vacuum by moving the chairs around the dining room table. Please note, I am not complaining about those two activities; just the rest of maintaining a home.

Zel sometimes helps me change the sheets and fold the laundry. But, mostly, that's my area of expertise.

But, really, I'm responsible for cleaning. Zel and Flof are responsible for making messes.

Today, I changed the sheets on our bed. Zel said, "do you want help?"

Usually, he helps me, and I really do appreciate the help.

But, I saw him picking at his nose and then he wiped his nose with his hand. And so I said, "nope."

"Why not," he said.

"Well, nose-picker, do you really think that your snots should go on these clean sheets?" I said.

"That's fine. I won't help you. You just go on and do your slit work," said Zel.

Sweet Jesus. "Slit work". Well, beats dick work.

So, I changed the sheets. And then the clothes dryer finished drying the clothes. Whites. That means a lot of his socks and his panties.

"Do you want help?" said Zel.

"Are your hands clean?" I said. The reason I'm into clean hands is because dirty hands spread germs.

About 1 1/2 years ago, Zel had a staph infection in his blood stream, and it affected his heart. The doctors were never able to determine how the staph bacteria infected Zel. They said that staph is a bacterium that is on our bodies all the time. So, it's possible that he came down with the flu or a cold and then the staph seized the opportunity. An opportunistic infection, if you will.

Back to the laundry. He said some inaudible complaint about me under his breath. But, he washed his hands and then he folded some clothes. And, believe me...the Little Red Hen appreciated the help.

Maybe he'll get lucky later.