What if, instead of telling him what you need to do, and asking if he'll do it...what if you tell him what needs to be done and ask how he thinks you should handle it?
For ex. (and I'm just making this up) you say, H, I need to go grocery shopping and run these errands, but I can't do it with the kids. What do you think I should do?
Have you tried doing that?
I've done it with my boss a few times and found out that he usually tells me to do what I had already planned to do...but that I now have his approval and he thinks it was his idea and that he had input...all of which make him happy.
