I really don’t want to derail another thread but now I’m curious. If you want you can talk about gender roles in your house
Who takes out the garbage in your house and what geographic area do you live in?
I would say that it’s about 50/50 who takes the garbage cans to the curb. Sometimes I do, sometimes my husband does.
We live in the Midwest
One hard and fast rule is that garbage goes out the morning that it’s picked up, not the night before. My very sweet neighbor who I will never say anything bad about, it makes her anxious so it’s an easy thing to do.
I have no idea how it works with either of my children. Since my daughter just installed their dishwasher, I don’t think that they care one bit about gender roles at their house.
My husband usually takes it out unless he’s away. I don’t know that this is so much a “gender role” as that our compost bins are usually really heavy so it’s just easier for him. I will often bring the empty ones back in. They always go out the night before because the trash trucks start really early sometimes - the first one came round before 7am this morning. I don’t think either of us want to be wrangling trash cans while dressed for work!
The dishwasher is not so much a gender role as - have you seen this meme? I let no one else pack the dishwasher lol. Friends have learnt that if they help tidy up after dinners to leave the dishes in the sink Husband and C26 unpack it.
We have an old house with a detached garage and trash cans that permanently live in the alley. H usually takes out the trash when he’s heading to the car in the morning but he travels enough that I consider it a mutual task. (Midwest).
I bring the trash and recycling bins to the front of the garage the day before trash pickup, and I fill them. I usually let dh move them to the curb after 6 that evening.
I don’t know what thread sparked this, but I’ll say that dh and I split a lot of duties. For instance, he washes large dishes and I load and unload the dishwasher. I do all the laundry, and he does almost all the yard work. We live in Texas
Well, I broke my ankle a couple of years ago when I was taking the garbage bag from the house out to the bin in the garage. I stepped down into the garage and rolled my foot and broke 3 bones! So now my husband doesn’t like for me to take it out, although I’m super careful now when I take that step!
He usually takes the bin out to the curb but I do it probably 25% of the time and I bring it in more often than that. We have two separate collection days, one for garbage and one for recycling.
I empty all of cans in the house and put them in a can in the porch to keep our dog out of the bags. Our cans are by the street so H takes the bags from the porch to the curb. We have very traditional roles, I’m a SAHM so do all of the cleaning, laundry, etc., we have a landscaper, he does outside stuff like shoveling.
I bring the trash bins to the curb. He brings them in. For us that’s a matter of who’s where at what times.
He does everything outside (which includes cleaning up after the dogs) and laundry. I do cleaning, grocery shopping and cooking. Dishwasher is started by whoever puts the last dish in and is emptied by whoever needs something in there first–lol. And he’s also our handyman, currently prepping to paint the kitchen and repair a window blind.
When we lived in a house, I was the person who typically brought the bag from inside to the bin in the garage. Because my husband left for work early, he did the job of bringing them to the curb in the morning. Since I was usually home when they came, I would be the person to bring the pails back into the garage. If they came late, then my husband might do it when he got home (along with getting the mail).
We are in an apartment now and I am the person who usually brings the garbage done to the bin in the garage. I don’t mind doing it, it gives me steps and 3 flights of stairs (I walk the garbage down).
We are from the Midwest but lived in the mid Atlantic for many years. I almost always took the garbage cans out ( the night before, the guys came early) and put them back in.
Now back in the Midwest in an old house with a detached garage and alley. I’m now on my own but I would say that it was about 50/50 as to who would take the inside trash and recycling bins out to dump in the cans .
Over the years it has changed. First, H always took it out and always made it sound like a big production. So then I started doing it. But those were the days we could plop our bags on the street. We only had two bags a week, so I’d just carry them down. No need to drag anything back. I did this for years - over 10 at least, maybe more than 15
Then we switched to the mandatory rolling cans. I hate this. It was much easier before. Now I have to roll the can through our gate and through a gravel area to get to the brick driveway. And I despise the sound the can makes scraping all the way. So H has gone back to doing it most of the time. When he had surgery or if he’s stressed or busy, I’ll do it. But for the most part it’s his again.
edit - and I’m in a small rural southern city that is very conservative and traditional, and about 20 years behind the times. I’ve never heard it was the man’s job!
husband takes out trash to the street, the night before (as do all neighbors). This was a discussion a million years ago and a trade off for wife doing more laundry (by preference!)
Whoever is outside closest to when they are emptied brings in bins (sometimes this is a kid)
We live in close quarters with neighbors, definitely a gender mix in who does it. Also a lot of people travel for work, or are physicians with late shifts, so not real “set in stone” stuff anyway.
DH takes it out, I bring them in . DH also does the part where the compost, recycling, and garbage cans in the house are emptied. Our town switched providers and caused a huge uproar by requiring everyone have identical bins, which they provided, but you had to guess what size you were going to need.
He puts it out when he leaves for work. When our kids were home, they not only brought ours in , but stopped on their way back from the schoolbus and lugged our neighbor’s in as well, in addition to chasing down any loose lids, etc.
My H takes out the garbage cans, although I will take it out or bring the cans back if he’s not around. He had his own house before we were married, and he took out his trash. He just kept doing it even after we married. I took it out most weeks during the years he traveled for work.
We both take the full trash bags from the kitchen to the garbage can (in the garage). When it is full, the person who put in that straw that broke the camel’s back takes it out.
I literally just took the kitchen garbage can bag out to the trash receptacle. Because it was full. That’s who takes it out - who decides it’s full - not an assigned task.
Same with the cans to the street - usually the night before unless a big storm is expected. Again, we both do it. Whoever gets to it first. We have a lot of yard debris and our cans do get heavy. I can handle it!
We have 3 kids. When they were home there were 5 of us taking trash out. It was not my son’s “job”. When it’s full, someone make the move to take the trash out. And whoever is nearby should thank the person who chipped it.
A milestone to me would be that most jobs are not gendered. I also cut the grass today. And ran the leaf blower. H did some garage arranging. I did some of that yesterday. We both walk the dog. We aren’t perfect. H never cooks. I blame myself for that!
My Dh takes out the garbage and recycling bins most weeks but because he has been traveling for work for over 35 years I’ve done it plenty. Along w/mowing the grass, setting up a generator when needed, grilling, etc. my mother never would have done any of those things.
I feel like we both can and do most chores around the house. Live in the Midwest.
It used to be my husband (since I did a lot of other stuff, including most of the yardwork other than lawnmowing which is hired out). But since adding a compost bin to the plan was my idea, I now often help out. We keep small bin on counter, empty it approx weekly and have compost bin pickup biweekly (alternating with recycle).
I live by myself, so there is no gender issue here. I live in an apartment building in NYC. I take my garbage to a chute on my floor and just drops it. I leave boxes and recycle stuff in a room on my floor and someone would dispose of. When I need to get light bulbs changed or some minor things done around my apartment, I have handyman to take care of. I tip them for jobs well done, but no asking them when they are in good mood or over praise them after the job is done. There are always pros and cons.
My kids ( D and S) both had chores growing up but they were not gendered. Both kids cooked ( better than me), cleaned, ran laundry, cut grass, shoveled snow, etc.
Husband and C26 unpack it.
