Is it normal to dislike helping out my partner?

My partner asks me to do things for her pretty frequently. Not a day goes by where she doesn't ask me to do at least one task for her, but it's usually a recurring theme throughout the day. The type of things she has me do are small things, but still things she can do by herself that she's usually just too lazy to do (for example: getting her a drink, getting her a snack, getting her a heating pad, going upstairs to get her socks/bra/shirt, going upstairs to get her charging cable, etc.)

If I'm not doing anything, I probably wouldn't mind, but she frequently interrupts the things that I want to do with my day, and if I tell her "no", she just keeps asking me until I cave and end up doing it for her. With such frequent interruptions, I occasionally feel like the only time I have for myself is when she's not home, and sometimes feel more like her servant than her boyfriend.

Whenever I try to discuss this with her, it just starts an argument and nothing gets solved. I just want to know, am I in the wrong for not wanting to pamper her, or is it normal to dislike this kind of thing?

Voting Results
64% Normal
Based on 11 votes (7 yes)
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Comments ( 5 )
  • RoseIsabella

    Ask her to do favors for you, and see what she does, and says. Her response to this query will give you the answer you need to decide what to do.

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  • Boojum

    You say she does this because of simple laziness, and since you're the one living with her, you may well be right. But it could also be attention-seeking behaviour. Or it could be she grew up with a mother who treated her father like a personal servant, and he was too gutless to refuse her, so she thinks this sort of thing is just normal. And some women - particularly American women - have this idea that because they occasionally do their partner the huuuuge favour of allowing him put his penis in her vagina, this means he's signed an invisible contract to act as her servant.

    The only times I'd tolerate the behaviour you cite is if my wife was ill, physically disabled or very busy with something. But she's adult enough and has enough self-respect to never make such petty requests in the first place. The most she'll do is things like ask me to get something from upstairs if she sees me heading that way, or request that I bring her a drink too if I say I'm going to the kitchen to get one for myself. And I do the same, never asking her to go out of her way to do something just for me when I can easily do it myself.

    What I think you should be particularly concerned about is how you attempting to talk to your partner about this leads to arguments. That suggests two things. First, that the two of you haven't yet figured out how to communicate in a positive, rational and caring style that allows you resolve the niggling little problems that always exist in relationships. Second, that there may be something serious underlying her apparently trivial requests and that either she doesn't understand what that's about and even thinking about it makes her feel very uncomfortable, or she knows exactly what it's about and the idea of sharing that with you makes her feel uncomfortable.

    I firmly believe that a lot of young couples (which I assume you are) have huge problems in their relationships because of the dysfunctional relationships they observed between the adults in their lives while they were growing up. If, for example, someone grows up watching their parents resolve every little conflict with a screaming match, then it's natural for that to become stuck in their head as the way "normal" relationships should work. It takes a certain degree of maturity to recognise that it's not a positive way to resolve disputes, and it's always difficult to accept that the model we have of something in our head is faulty, and shifting to a new way of viewing the world and other people usually involves some degree of discomfort.

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  • Somenormie

    That is not a healthy behavior at all you're supposed to help her in return. If this starts to an argument maybe talk it out like normal human beings and like normal adults would. Like what HiddenLeafShinobi had said she probably would want to be bonding with you, potentially wanting quality time with you.

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  • Maybe she's trying to get you to spend quality time with her? You know, you do her a favor, y'all talk and bond, maybe that's her aim

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  • mafioso

    Totally normal, if she doesn't do the same for you (or at least occasionally except sex)

    If it's only you doing that kinds of things, you can get a whore and maybe even save some money. :D

    But seriously, you should tell her, that it really does bother you to do it so frequently and that you need your time for yourself. And even if she gets mad, it's important that you don't back up from your statement or opinion

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