Problem of the week 6/22/06: Kyle's Beverage

Okay, am I wrong to be annoyed by the fact that Kyle cannot leave the house without a beverage?

Sometimes we are seriously driving to Sav-On, and yet Kyle has to have a Diet Coke or a coffee from home, and if he forgets to grab one, he has to DRIVE THROUGH someplace to get one! It's unbelievable! The guy cannot take a two minute drive without a beverage in hand.

Why does this bother me?

Three reasons.

Number One: He ALWAYS leaves the can, cup, or coffee mug in the van's cupholder. Usually, I throw them away for him because they annoy me, but if I don't, he will simply move the empties to the next cupholder when he arrives in the van with his next beverage, until there are no more cupholders whereupon he starts tossing them in the back.

Number Two: He's always dripping and slopping them all over the place. The worst is when he has to make his special drive-thru trip and has to screw around with cream and sugar and leaves the little ripped up Equal packets strewn about, and sometimes even spills the sugar all over my pants like he did last weekend.

Number Three: I HATE that I have to get myself and three kids ready for whatever outing we are going on, while the only concern in his head is getting a beverage for himself and charging his iPod so he can force us to listen to HIS music while sipping HIS refreshing drink. Meanwhile, I'm lucky if I can even walk to the car as I stagger under the weight of several diaper bags, an infant carrier, and waters and toys for the boys. There are times when I've asked Kyle to carry something and he's literally carrying a freshly burned CD (which he had to screw around with for fifteen minutes before we left), a Diet Coke, and his keys, and he's like "I can't, my hands are full." Can I just tell you how much that makes me want to throw his beverage in his face?

I think the bottom line is that I hate the beverage because it's become a metaphor for every time I've taken care of all the kids, meeting all their needs before ever even recognizing my own while Kyle takes care of himself. It's a problem I know that many of us moms have, and it's not because our men are stupid, or are bad people. They just aren't used to having to pull their weight with the kids so they don't realize how much needs to be done. So tell me; is there any way to get Kyle to step up a little when he's around without my having to point out every little task that needs doing?