Here’s a subtle downside to an even division of household chores.

My husband likes to do his share of the housework, and I have officially erased the notion that that makes him “modern” from my brain.

When we first moved in thirteen years ago, he insisted on buying two cordless Dysons, promising to vacuum often enough to justify the cost. He has. It’s also decent at laundry and can fix almost anything.

However, attempts to help outside the unwritten tapes can be more frustrating than anything else.

He washes the dishes but does not dry them

Since my husband hates bending over to unload the dishwasher (admittedly, he has back problems), he will often wash dishes the old-fashioned way, standing by the sink.

But for whatever reason, it won’t dry them. So the pile of dishes by the sink expands until someone (me, that’s me!) decides to wipe them down and put them away.

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He always chooses the wrong food storage container

When it’s time to dispose of the leftovers, I have to be quick. If I let my husband elbow his way into choosing a storage container, he’ll either pick something way too big or too small.

Either we end up with half a cup of foam in a gallon-sized container that eats up fridge space, or a multi-container storage situation where 96.3 percent of the chicken stew is in the middle container and 3.7 percent is in the secondary, doomed to be forgotten.

Never nest food storage containers properly

Placing and stacking food storage containers is key to maximizing cupboard space and ensuring ease of future use. So when someone just can’t get it right, it’s maddening. Due to my husband’s aversion to the dishwasher, putting away the food storage containers usually falls to me.

But if he gets the chance — while I’m commuting, say — he’ll undoubtedly put the food containers in the least sensible way, which means that within five minutes of getting home from a long trip, I have to rearrange them all.

Takes out the trash long before it’s full

Before my husband left on a recent work trip, he warned, “You’ll be surprised how often you have to take out the trash.”

I was not surprised. Once after five days, I removed the bag from the container, confirming my suspicion that my husband’s daily garbage and recycling collection was unnecessary.

Maybe he hates the idea of ​​trash piling up in the house. Maybe he doesn’t realize that excessive use of plastic trash bags is, well, wasteful. Maybe I should talk to him about this.

He puts things in the wrong place

Admittedly, I am very specific. I believe that everything has a home in the house – especially in the case of the pantry and refrigerator.

So when my husband makes a ham sandwich and the deli ends up in the cheese drawer of the fridge, I sigh. After discovering a bag of almonds in the chip drawer, I shook my head before returning the nuts to their snack shelf.

Let’s not talk about the time I discovered a container of leftover spaghetti in the cupboard where cups and mugs live.

He leaves treats at our child’s eye level

A sub-habit of the above is a tendency to leave chocolates and other treats out in the open, where my seven-year-old is sure to discover them.

We love treats! We are a dessert positive household. And I’m happy he’s trying to put things off. But no one should keep candy at child’s eye level, taunting them when they open the refrigerator door before dinner is served.

It adds funny items to my grocery list

I keep a grocery list in progress on a small yellow post-it note in the kitchen junk drawer. When I get to the store, I scan the list of items before I start my tour.

My husband’s handwriting almost always has something funny written next to our actual household necessities, like, “10 new spices!” or “all the meatballs!”

I honor these requests, which do not inspire confidence in my purchasing ability, at a rate of about 15% – except when the item on the passerby’s list is “love me”, which is both affordable and wonderful.

(Okay, this habit is tolerable.)