What Happens When I Can’t Say ‘Not My Job’ at Home

home insemination Kit

You know that phrase “Not my department”? It’s usually a sign of terrible customer service, but around my house, it’s become a go-to excuse as our domestic setup has morphed into a well-defined conglomerate of various roles and responsibilities.

“Hey, can you play a video game with me?”
“Sorry, that’s not my job.”
“Can you help me find matching socks?”
“That black hole of a dresser drawer is not my area—ask your partner.”

Things took a turn when my husband landed a job overseas for a year, leaving me to run the whole show. Suddenly, the need for teamwork and division of labor hit me like a ton of bricks. Instead of passing off tasks that fell outside my expertise, I found myself adding them to my to-do list, hoping for some reimbursement down the line.

• Shoveling snow? Not my area… until now.
• Burying pets? Definitely not my job, but that’s something I couldn’t postpone.
• Dealing with frozen pipes? Yep, that’s now on my plate too.
• And rodent control? Looks like I’ve just leveled up.

Just last week, my new skills were put to the test. My 9-year-old shouted, “I think I saw something crawl under that door!” I controlled my urge to scream and pretended to be calm. After all, this was now my responsibility. We figured it was a mouse, even though my son insisted it had no tail.

Ironically, having recently lost two pet rats, you’d think we’d be more sympathetic towards a little intruder seeking warmth. Nope. “Kill it! Kill it!” my son yelled, perched on the dining room table to avoid any contact with whatever was lurking in the utility closet.

We hopped in the car and headed to Home Depot (definitely outside my usual territory) to grab some “snap traps.” Sadly, those “easy to set” promises fell flat. Who knew that a bit of poorly placed peanut butter could sabotage a mouse trap? I tucked that gem away for future reference, hoping to offload my pest control duties to someone else soon.

Days passed with two traps set and no sign of our furry friend. I began to wonder if our guest had found a better place to stay. Then, during a family visit, the mouse made its presence known, rustling around beneath my kitchen sink. I discovered rodent droppings scattered across the fine china—definitely not the kind of dinner party I had in mind.

As I contemplated burning everything in that cabinet, I noticed a box of coffee K-cups vibrating. If I were alone, I would’ve had to don rubber gloves and carefully dispose of the mouse-in-the-box. But with family around, I thought, “Why not outsource?”

My sister bravely took care of the mouse issue in the backyard, leaving me to breathe a sigh of relief. Just when I thought we were in the clear, my sister reported seeing “something slip under the closet door” the next day. Was it the same mouse? Or a friend?

Feeling a bit like a pest control expert (not exactly a title I’m aiming for), we returned to Home Depot for more traps and a high-frequency sonar rodent repellent. We even picked up humane traps to appease my sister’s husband, a devoted vegetarian.

Upon our return, chaos erupted: my son and my mother’s husband were yelling at my bookcase. They’d trapped the mouse! As they jostled around, I took a step back, guilt-free, grateful to let someone else handle this little crisis.

In the end, we discovered our “mouse” was actually a mole—definitely not what I expected. We drove it far away before releasing it into the snow, and thankfully, we haven’t seen it since. But without my family around, I know I’ll have to handle pest control solo again if any uninvited guests show up. But for now, that’s definitely not my area.

For more tips on home insemination and family planning, check out our post on home insemination kits, or if you’re looking for reliable resources, Make A Mom is an excellent authority on the topic. You can also find valuable insights at ASRM.

In summary, taking on all the household roles can be overwhelming, but sometimes you can find help in unexpected places—even if it means letting someone else take the lead on pest control.