Ladies - do you get your hands dirty?

AbbysMom

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My niece and her boyfriend just bought a condo. She is sitting back and watching everyone else paint.
She is a total girly-girl and never gets her hands dirty.

I just told a friend that I am power washing the deck today and she is shocked as she also never gets her hands dirty.

I would have never been allowed to sit back when I was growing up. We were taught how to fend for ourselves. I don't hesitate to pick up a hammer or anything like that.

So, do you jump right in or do you sit back and watch?
 

katiemae1277

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I'm not adverse to getting my hands dirty, I'd just rather not
Power tools scare me to be honest
I'm always worried about accidents and missing appendages


but I'm like you, it was expected of us to pitch in and help
 

pami

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There are some things I will get my hands dirty for, but as Katie said, I would rather sit back and let someone else get theirs dirty. There are always other things that need to be done that you can do and keep your hands clean.

I think thats cool that you are power washing your deck, Karen, that is strenuous, I have tried that before but then I wanted to power wash EVERYTHING. It was my first and last power washing experience.
 

yosemite

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Being raised on a farm one learns that getting your hands dirty is a necessary part of life. I have and do take on anything including installing a new ceiling light and changing electrical plugs. I'm also one of those folks that cannot sit and watch anyone else do everything. Guilt rears it's ugly head and I have to pitch in and help. It sucks too! Hubby and daughter can sit and watch me struggle to do something and it doesn't bother them in the least whereas I cannot bear to sit and watch them have to do anything the least bit strenuous by themselves.
 

ut0pia

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I sit back and watch. It's not that I don't want to help, it's just that any time I do anything with my hands it turns into a disaster so I'm afraid to even offer my help..I'm just far from handy ..If I was alone on an island- I'm 100% sure I wouldn't survive past the first day.
 

jack31

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Funny you should ask--my husband would say it is one of the sole reasons he married me--I know how to be a girly girl but also quite the tomboy.

On Monday he came home from work to find me out back with a shovel digging in the dirt looking for worms for the box turtles. No gloves on my hands either.

I was raised to do it myself and not rely on the help of others. I can change a spare tire on a car, check my oil and power tools are no stranger to me--I love power saw and screw gun.

Leslie
 

proudmamiof4

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Originally Posted by katiemae1277

I'm not adverse to getting my hands dirty, I'd just rather not
Power tools scare me to be honest
I'm always worried about accidents and missing appendages


but I'm like you, it was expected of us to pitch in and help
I am with you....My huband doesn't let me hang around when doing something I may freak out about
and as for getting my hands dirty....I have 6 kids! I have no choice (although I would like to sit back and watch)
 

mbjerkness

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I jump right in. In the almost 30 years we've been married. Jim and I have renovated many houses. I have helped do it all. from roofing to flooring. I have also helped pull motors out of trucks. I love being a girly girl, but I grew up with a father who always said. If it needs to be done, get it done!
 

rosiemac

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I'm one for doing the girly things like cleaning, dusting, vacuuming etc..

Anything to do with decorating, DIY i get the experts in to do because i'd make a mess of things.

I used to always do the gardening when i was married, but not anymore, i pay a gardener to come in fortnightly because i've done my fair share over the years. My idea of gardening is dead heading the rosebushes
 

Ms. Freya

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I'm usually the first one in there. DH took a funny (but typical) pic of me in the back yard a week after we bought the house building a tiered retaining wall. He helped when he got home, but I saw no reason not to use as much of the day as I could for the project. He jokes that I have to teach him how to fix stuff so he doesn't start to feel like a 'kept man.'


Honestly, I grew up on a farm with a dad who felt that no daughter of his was going out in the world to have to depend on a man, so I tended to learn a lot of non-girly things...and I suppose being a complete tomboy doesn't help.
 

breellablue

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Let see, this week I have:

Started to plant my garden. I love being knee deep in dirt when the return is so beautiful.

Started to clean my pond

Ripped up the carpet in one of my future MIL's rooms upstairs

I think I'd say I'm okay with getting dirty.
 

crazyforinfo

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I love to paint. I used to love putting things together but they make them so hard to do anymore. I am not one for dirt under my nails though. I think it varies on the task.
 

rosiemac

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Originally Posted by Breellablue

Started to plant my garden. I love being knee deep in dirt when the return is so beautiful.
Oh i'll plant some plants in my tubs and shrubs in the garden, but that's about it, and then i have my gardening gloves on
 

whuckleberry

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Sure, I'm more than willing to get my hands dirty. I would certainly power-wash my deck, if I had a deck.
Painting, varnishing furniture, stuff like that I have no problem doing (and even enjoy it). Can't say I've done any renovation work, as I don't own a home, but I'd be willing to learn!
 

snake_lady

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Yep. I actually get offended when I'm not included LOL.

Let's see... when we built our house, I was fully involved with the electrical work (we did the electrical ourselves), fixing different contractors work, etc.

We did the stonework and gardens, last year we built our deck and I was right out there shoveling concrete down the sono (sp) tubes for the footings (we had an hour to get the concrete off the truck, otherwise they charge by the minute)...that was some hard work I tell ya.

I'm out stone picking with the family (crop fields)... I'm getting better with automotive stuff (still learning...but I can change the oil myself now).

My former employment, I was the first female cleaner in the plant....ever. As they put it, "It's a man's job". (unfortunately my employment is very sexist... man's jobs and women's jobs... I fought em on that).

so um yah, I don't mind getting dirty whatsoever. I rather enjoy manual/physical labour.... I could never be a secratary.

which is the sole reason becoming disabled was/is so hard on me. It's a total lifestyle change. I can no longer do things like shoveling or wheelbarrowing concrete....
 

GoldyCat

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I just came in from doing two hours of yard work and still have dirt under my fingernails. I do use gloves, but I wear holes in them digging in the dirt with my fingertips to get at the roots. I also prefer to do most of the indoor projects myself, especially painting, because I can do it better than just about anybody else except my father. He's the one who taught me and I've never quite caught up to his standard of perfection.

Now when it comes to regular housework, I'd much rather sit back and watch somebody else do it.
 

white cat lover

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Dad taught me to be self sufficient - he says he could see from the start I would be single for a loooonnnngggg time, I'm too much for a man to handle!
 

arlyn

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I'll paint, mud, do minor electrical and plumbing, install car stereos, change my own oil (I would but it's easier to have a shop do it and dispose of the old stuff), tune my own car.
I've even changed head and valve cover gaskets.

I bait my own hook, clean my own fish, dress my own small game.
 

twstychik

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Originally Posted by Jack31

Funny you should ask--my husband would say it is one of the sole reasons he married me--I know how to be a girly girl but also quite the tomboy.
My husband HAS said that. When it comes to moving I'm always first to grab the heavy stuff. His friend once asked why I didn't let the "boys" do it and DH jumped in and said "I married her because she can handle herself!" We ran by my brothers one day to pick up a microwave stand. My ex was living there at the time and he held the door as DH and I carried the stand to the car. The ex said something about it being wrong that a "man" was holding the door while a woman was doing the heavy lifting. I said it didn't count when the man was smaller!
He was a little guy.

I was a huge tom boy growing up catching worms, toads, and snakes, playing in pond water, and generally getting dirty. Often times my mother thought I had gotten tan playing... until I bathed later and all my "tan" washed off! Oh, and to this day when we go fishing I am the ONLY one who will handle the fish with out gloves. My brother uses a glove and DH won't touch them at all! At least they bait their own hooks though.

I have to say, being pregnant, this has been one of the hardest adjustments for me... having to ask DH to carry the laundry and do any of the "heavier" stuff that I've never shied away from doing myself.
 
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