My H and I have always had an inside joke, about when someone does something minor around the house but wants a lot of WOA for it, like changing a doorknob: "Gee, honey, look at my doorknob". We've used it so much, that whenever my H completes a small project, no matter what it is, he'll say "come look at my doorknob".
Now, I didn't grow up in a handy household. Once I was living with roomates in college and grad school, I learned a few things, and tackled some projects, like tile work and replacing toilet innards. When H and I married, we worked together on remodelling an ancient house.
But since H came from a builder's background (his dad), and is something of a perfectionist, over time my "fixit" skills fell into disuse as I relied on H to do these things, and frankly, feared his criticism if I did them myself and did them "wrong". This is something I regretted when I thought H was leaving and I was going to be taking care of this house on my own.
Anyway - ironically, the doorknobs in our current house have been failing for some time. H is good at grand projects, but so overschedules himself that the little fix-it jobs start to fall by the wayside. I NEVER nag about these things (never did, I'm proud to say ) - but the door to the kids bathroom has a lock that hasn't worked properly in years (this is also the guest bath!), the door from the kitchen to the garage has part of the knob fallen off and sometimes locks you in the garage, the inside handle to the front door fell off 2 months ago, and the door to our bathroom sometimes locks when you exit, requiring emergency lock-picking at 4 am when my H gets up to pee.
Pretty pitiful, huh???
So after seeing a segment on a home show the other day about how easy it is to change a doorknob, I went to Home Repo and bought some doorknobs. (Not one for the front door yet, unfortunately, as they have changed styles and I was uncertain which size would fit my door without having to repaint or redrill something!). Then I came home and changed the knobs on those other doors. I told the kids to keep quiet about it, and asked H when he got home if he noticed anything different - "hey, check out my doorknobs" .
Frankly, the doorknobs weren't really bothering me (since I am like the boiled frog, I tend not to notice those things) - but now that they are fixed, I realize what a constant low-grade aggravation they were.
So ladies, pick up your toolkits and start fixing those nagging things that you've been waiting for your H to do!
Ellie (BTW - I think H is just relieved it is one less thing he has to do )
) - but the door to the kids bathroom has a lock that hasn't worked properly in years (this is also the guest bath!), the door from the kitchen to the garage has part of the knob fallen off and sometimes locks you in the garage, the inside handle to the front door fell off 2 months ago, and the door to our bathroom sometimes locks when you exit, requiring emergency lock-picking at 4 am when my H gets up to pee.
