Woman Agrees to Join Husband During ‘Chores Weekend’ at Their Vacation Home, but Refuses to Do Any Work

Vacation homes are supposed to feel like an escape — but for some owners, a weekend away can turn into a second job.

In a post on Reddit, one woman said she and her husband own a vacation property, but nearly every visit becomes a work trip for her. While she tackles upkeep and repairs, she claims her husband spends the time focused on his regular job — “work emails, conference calls” — leaving her to manage the house and yard alone.

She explained that because her husband runs his own company, he often works weekends, which she says is why she ends up doing most of the physical labor.

“I’ve sanded and scraped paint from railing and fencing and then repainted it in the 90+ heat. I’ve raked leaves, repaired the decking, trimmed bushes, layed mulch, power-washed, weeded,” she wrote. “He says he’s going to help, but never does.”

She also shared that last month her husband asked her to go down by herself to handle several tasks requested by their property manager. She said she spent four days working nonstop — while he stayed home and relaxed.

“I went on my own for four days and worked, worked, worked,” she wrote. “He stayed home and played golf and relaxed.”

Now, she said, her husband wants to return to finish what she couldn’t complete — framing it as another “chore weekend.” She told him she had already put in serious effort during her solo trip.

“I said, ‘I’ve already been down and worked my butt off,’” she wrote.

According to her post, her husband acknowledged she’s carried most of the workload and told her that this time she could relax. But she said that promise didn’t last long.

Even after insisting she didn’t need to do anything, she wrote that he later assigned her more “tasks.” She said she pushed back, reminding him that he had offered this trip as her chance to rest.

When one of her husband’s children called asking about the weekend, the woman said they didn’t seem thrilled to hear it would mainly be a working trip for the two of them.

“I explained again how I was there last month doing a ton of work by myself,” she wrote.

In the comments, many people encouraged her to hold her boundary and stop stepping in as the default caretaker of the property.

“Simple, tell him you’ll help him but then never do…just like he does, lol. When he complains, remind him he said you ‘could relax on this trip’ then list off all the things you’ve already done just this recent trip alone before he got there and then take yourself to the nearest spa for a massage,” one person wrote.

The woman replied that she was thinking along those lines — not by arguing, but by making herself unavailable.

“This is what I planned to do,” she responded. “I’m going to find reasons to not be at the house. I can run to the store and take a long, long time. LOL.”

She added that while some commenters wondered why she wouldn’t simply stay home, her husband “is very insistent that I go.”