i remember seeing a show on tv and the wife/mother was complaining about the husband's complaining.
she said, "he doesn't realise that the pile of laundry on the chair that he is complaining about is NOT the same pile as he saw this morning. i've done 4 loads of laundry since he left. he just can't see it. he seems to think that his clothes magically wash, dry, fold & iron themselves." or something to that effect.
i think that the problem many women still face is that to many husband's their wife is "JUST a housewife" or "JUST taking care of the kid/s"... the husbands don't seem to understand exactly what this entails. the hubbies complain about working long hours, without thought to the wife who wakes in the night to feed the child, clean the vomit, change the diaper etc. they don't consider the fact that this same wife starts "work" the minute she wakes and doesn't finish until the minute she falls asleep. he complains that he has to put in so much OT, but doesn't consider that his wife works 18 hours per day and on bad nights, 24 hours per day.
he complains that his boss doesn't appreciate the hard-work he puts in for the company, when he hasn't a clue what his wife does to make HIS life easier.
THAT is what these wives are complaining about. they just want a, "gee honey, was XX this grumpy all day? that must have been difficult for you to deal with! you must be tired. Why don't you go have a nice long, hot bath? i'll watch junior for an hour while you relax."
or maybe even, "wow, the house looks great! you take such great care of the family!"
actually, all most of us want now and then is very simple...
"THANK YOU!"
just two words, but you'd think that they were expensive for how some husbands ration them out.