Are you the recepticle of all specialized knowledge in your home?

I am definately a memeber of this group. My family are useless when it comes to finding things, making the important phone calls, paying the bills, dealing with all the crappy things in life. Jack of all trades is my name and I know they wallow in it. LOL I went away for a week and they all survived so I cottoned on to this and now I just become deaf, dumb and blind when I hear those 3 little words, "I can't do...." or "I can't find.....". I am enrolling for sign language lessons, so if they need my help in future I am going to sign everything, if they can't understand, well tough!! Good luck my friend.

Ah the infamous " but you do it better" or the "but you know where to find everything" shout - yes I do know it well! My way of teaching my lot how to do things for themselves was to get a really bad back problem! Even this didn't work too well so I went and had back surgry which has left me unable to do much! Of course I didn't really do this to sort out those helpless souls in my house but to be honest it has been so much fun watching them trying to do things! Hopefully ny the time I have recovered they will be far more independant and I will not let things slide back to the way it was before my illness! As to what you should do , have you ever considered going on strike? lol xxx

Hey I'm the one who does that in my family. I love that job, because it's easy and it makes me look smarter than the rest, and it can get me out of doing the other chores as well. Whenever my mom complains that I don't do the same chores as my sister, I tell her that I do the other stuff around here, that no one else can, it's good leverage... I'm always the one changing the lightbulbs, if there's a new gadget in the house, I usually set it up, and put it together, and figure out how it works. Anything wrong with the PC and I'm the girl! At least until further help arrives. I set all the channels on the TV, fix the faulty plugs, you name it... I love doing it too!

My husband must think I have some sort of special detectors that can pinpoint where certain object are. Most of the time it's something like one of his tools, that I don't even know what it looks like, I ask him to describe it, and then I'll go and find it right where he left it. I also have to tell him where things are when he's looking right at them, and he's supposed to have better than 20/20 vision. Last week, I fixed my brother in law's printer. All it was was a paper jam that took me 30 seconds to find. He was worried he was going to have to take it in for servicing. I don't know how many in my family and friends call me to ask me what to do when they get sick. If I could charge consultation fees, I'd be rich by now. Usually, whenever someone asks me for advice,or help doing or finding something, I'll do it without thinking, because it's easier than watching them flounder around trying to find a solution.

Well, it really depends. My fiancee always comes to me when something happens to her computer. When I try to show her how to solve the problem herself. She looks at me and saids " If I have to learn how to fix it myself then I no longer need you" . I fix the typical guy things in the house. If the dryer isn't drying she lets me know. If a pipe is leaking, my name gets hollared. There are things that only she does as well. If the kids need a haircut, they go to mom. If they want to know if something matches they ask mom. If they get a tain in their clothing , mom to the rescue. We both have things that we are better at. The children know who to come to to get their problems solved.

If you're Gadget I'm Where Is. How would I know Where Is his sneakers? I didn't take them off his feet and put them anywhere! There seems to be a limit of 30 seconds to search and then it's yell for the Where Is woman. I'm not yet fifty and half my hair is gray. I'm the only woman in a home of hubby and sons and now you know why I'm going white haired.

My favorite is "babe, where's the remote?". I am usually as far from the tv as possible when I am being asked that question. Another favorite tactic that often gets pulled on me is questions when I am sleeping, "Hey! Where are YOUR car keys?" note that he is not asking where his are because they are lost and I will be responsible for this later. I have no idea what you should do with your people, I have my hands full with mine!

no i am not

I am not in this situation myself, but I grew up watching my mother go through it. ALthough my hubby does occasionally ask me where his cell phone is that he put down, and I respond every time with " I have no Idea where you put it" (although i just passed it sitting on the microwave cart). My mother is still catering to my little brother and my father. This year is the first year, ever, that my father has helped clean the house. I'm not quite sure how she got him to do it, I think she just stopped doing it herself. He had invited one of his friends over, and the house was a mess, he looked at her and said "so and so will be here in a few hours." she said "that's nice" He didn't know what to do with himself! I think he was so surprised, he didn't really say anything, but he started to clean up. After my mom saw how desperate he was, she pitched in too. It's amazing, because I still don't believe her, she said he even used the VACUUM! this is the man that would never step foot in the kitchen, ever. he would even send one of us girls in there after his soda. I think it's horrible that she does everything for my little brother too, (he's now 21, not so little anymore!) but she's beginning to do less. The other day, he needed his clothes washed, before he went to his girlfriends, she told him "i'll be busy, if you want clean clothes, you'll have to wash them yourself." He figured out how to do it on his own. I didn't know he even knew where the washer was! I think she's finally beginning to realize, that she doesn't have to do everything for them. When my sister and I lived there, we picked up the slack, but we've been on our own for a few years, and I think my mom is finally getting sick of it all. If only she had learned it years earlier, she'd have less grey hairs I think! (:

oh,yea.My dad's like that with me. He's going senile now but even before that,he was like I can't find my shoes,How do you work this computer,etc.The only thing I can suggest is do what I do,put your foot down.Ihad to cause he was driving me nuts til I couldn't take it anymore. If he says he can't find his shoes,I'll tell him to look for them then he'll find them.Of course now that he's going senile,I'm a little more lenient but that's what I used to do.I don't know why he thought I knew the answer to everything,lol

oh boy do I know what you are talking about!!! is this a universal affliction of wives/mothers? yes, okay, I understand that we are the best at finding a bandaide - kissing the boo boo and making it all better....but come on! "I can't do it because I can't this, or that" "I can't do it because first such and such has to be done....(so do such and such you so and so!)" "Where's my......! How do you.....? " then all the heavy sighs that go along with the incapabilities. I wish I had an answer, if you find one let me know. When one of the kids says "Where's my shoes" I usually say "Well, let's see, the last time I wore them I . . . . . "

I would not say I am a gadget. However, I do handle most of the technical things at home, short of being called the Handyman. When any machine or device is not working, I would be the first to have a look at it before I write it off, and I am one to source for a replacement. However, if it is replacing of water pipes, clearing the choke, that's out for me. I cannot take the stench. If there is any decision making to be made, it seems that I have the final say even though I dread it. Perhaps it is because I have been through more hardship than my siblings.

I think when we are in the role of mother/wife we have a tendency to want to everyone to need us, but it ends up getting out of control. I am always telling my hubby that I am not Superwoman and can't possibly do everything that is expected of me, especially when I have worked that day! But it goes in one deaf ear and out the other. My husband and daughter expect me to drop everything and do for them. And fix everything, they think that I know how to fix everything from a leaky faucett to broken cell phones. Of course, I have had to learn how to do a lot, but out of necessity not desire to learn these things, otherwise nothing would get done. I think it's just easier for them to let me deal with things. I have started to step back and tell them they will have to start doing some things around here, and my daughter actually figured out how to turn the dishwasher on!

yup,that's me. oh,it's totally a scam in most cases here LOL they just don't want to fix/look for something. however when i was asked "how do i shut off the water to the toilet?" i RAN. :) i almost didn't want to know why they were asking.

In my household I tend to be the finder. *Where are my keys?* - on the table *Where is my hair brush?* - by your left hand *Have you seen my jacket?* - hanging on the hanger I used to simply find things and hand them over, now I tend to respond with *Where did you put them/it etc* I am not the font of all knowledge or the container of all wisdom, but it seems to be expected anyway.

my friend, I am still here smiling after reading your discussion...I think we all know what you mean...I think that there are people who like pretending to be the Bible on earth and like having the first and above all the last word on everything...but there are also people who like asking others more than taking themselves the trouble of either looking for a thing or trying to make a thing work...for example..in my family my mother is the person to whom all the male members of the family go when they cannnot find their stuff...of course they simply didn't bore looking for them...I am the person who they are used to asking literary things and so on..but this is only a matter of habit, I think and of laziness even though it is clear that we can all have some peculiar ability and then be the one addressed on a specific problem...but I don't think that there could be one and only person specialised in solving all the problems..maybe I am wrong..well if you are out there...please let me know you!!!