Submitted by Dangerous_Onion_2861 t3_z8bpeb in relationship_advice
Apologies in advance this is a bit of a ramble with a broad request but I need help.
I've (24m) grew up not really knowing how to clean or use a kitchen that much, parents never taught me, and I don't have much experience living on my own and keeping my house in order tidiness/cleanliness wise. I essentially have less knowledge of this stuff than a lot 17-18 year olds.
My gf (23) has had to show me a lot of common sense stuff, such as:
- Rinsing the soap off of dishes before drying them.
- Not putting large kitchen knives blade up in the dish washer
- Living off of food other than pasta and take out
- How to clean the kitchen, bathroom
- Maintaining a generally tidy living space
We plan on living together soon which I am really excited for, but she's been getting increasingly frustrated at me (understandably) for not knowing how to do basic stuff like cooking, cleaning, tidying, and basically most basic housekeeping knowledge. I love her more than I've loved anyone else, and I see a long future with her, but this has became a serious issue for her and she has openly stated how sick she is of having to explain common sense stuff to me. I genuinely see it being a potential relationship breaker if I don't seriously up my game.
A key obstacle for me is that I'm quite embarrassed about this stuff, as I am literally a 24 year old man with a fulltime job who has a seriously limited knowledge on how to maintain a healthy living space. I can't ask my parents as I don't feel comfortable discussing it with them.
Essentially, I would welcome any advice, guidance, pointers, links to resources, experiences or anything else that can help me become someone who wouldn't be a nightmare to live with. My plan so far is to look on online for basic tips and guides on this stuff, but I would really appreciate any targeted info you guys may feel would be helpful to me.