Five Simple Things A Good Man Does Around the House

There are simple things that a good man should be doing around the house to help out, even if he's busy. Their contribution may seem small, but really, they're very valuable things that do not go unnoticed.

1. If You See Something Small That Needs Doing, Do It
This really isn't complicated, and it doesn't have to take a lot of time. If you happen to go into the kitchen, for instance, and see that the counter looks pretty disorganized, take a few minutes to move some things around into more proper places. A particular couple of favorites of mine are to put away some or all of the cleaned dishes or to do some or all of the currently dirty ones (there are always dirty dishes because we like to eat, eat often and small meals, and have teenagers that randomly deposit filthy things they've been sleeping on for days at at time). Other things might include pulling up some weeds around the driveway or walk as you walk down the path toward the house. Literally, this can take you fifteen seconds or less and still be a great little thing to do to help out. For instance, a huge one at our house is putting the toilet paper on the little roller thing. The kids suck at this and use TONS of toilet paper, so it pretty much always has to be done.

2. If You're Making Something For Yourself, Ask For Company
If I'm about to make myself a cup of tea or a snack, I almost always invite my wife to join in. "Would you like some tea?" or "Can I get you anything while I'm up?" are some really great lines to practice, use, and follow-through on. Honestly, I love it (and you do too) when someone goes out of their way to serve you like this, so return the favor.

3. Handle Gross Jobs Immediately
If something's gross, it usually only bothers me slightly, but it drives my wife freaking crazy. I've earned some major "good man points" by seeing something gross going on and taking care of it before it gets out of hand. Examples: leftovers doing naughty things, making sure leftovers get into the fridge, ooh God that trashcan stinks, I don't think those are my hairs on the toilet bowl but..., are all of these fruit flies coming from the compost bowl?, etc. Most of these are <2-minute jobs also, so get on them.

4. Shoulder Rubs
If I see my wife sitting at the computer or at the kitchen counter not looking overwhelmingly busy (look carefully first) or looking particularly stressed, I usually don't hesitate to give her a little shoulder rub. I can do this for like three minutes and become a household hero. Score.

5. Do Some Cooking
Granted, I do most of the cooking in my house. That means I know how awesome it is when sometimes I don't do the cooking. If the situation is the same for you, then keep it up. Keep cooking and being awesome like that. If the situation is the other way around for you, meaning someone else does most of the cooking, then step up and do it. Find something relatively easy to make that looks rather nice (use a recipe if you can't cook -- the internet is FULL of them), get the stuff, and make it. Announce that you're making it ahead of time, even, so the pressure for the other person to cook dissolves completely. This usually goes quite well. If you think you can't cook at all, take note that essentially anyone can make a good B.L.T. and essentially everyone loves them.