Working from home still means working, even if everyone else in the house can see where your office is.

We all wear headphones to focus on calls and emails while your husband keeps shouting from downstairs for help – would you stay available all day, or expect him to text and wait until you are free?

That frustration grows when one woman misses requests involving groceries and a misplaced charger, only to be blamed for treating her work hours like actual work.

Let’s check out the inevitable household argument.

AITA for wearing headphones while WFH and not hearing my husband call for me?

I (32F) am looking for some outside perspective on an ongoing issue with my husband (36M).

For background, I used to wear my AirPods a lot while doing things around the house, and my husband felt like I was not present and was tuning him out.

I understood his feelings and made a conscious effort to change—I now rarely wear my AirPods in common areas of our home or when I know he’s around.

She still wears her headphones when she’s working.

However, I work from home a few days a week, and when I’m in my home office, I wear headphones for calls or to listen to music so I can focus (I have ADHD and this really helps me).

This morning, I was checking emails and listening to music in my office when my husband came in, visibly upset.

He said he’d been calling my name from downstairs and was frustrated that I didn’t hear him because of my headphones.

He was looking for his computer charger and said that if he didn’t have to run up and down the stairs, he’d have more energy to take care of things at home.

He then told me I needed to empty the dishwasher because he was “too tired” of having to run up and down the stairs all of time.

He’s not working right now.

Side note: He does a lot around the house, which I really do appreciate.

I am happy to do my part, but often he gets to things before I do because I’m working during the day.

He is currently interviewing for jobs, but even though he isn’t working right now, he’s very busy working on our new house, networking, applying, and interviewing.

Here’s another example of her husband being upset about her AirPods.

There was another instance last week: He told me in the morning he’d be going to the grocery store, so I helped make the list and then went to my home office to work.

I had calls that morning, so my AirPods were in. I didn’t know exactly when he was planning to leave, or that he had left, because I was working.

When he got home, he called my name to help unload groceries, but I didn’t hear him. He was frustrated again and said we keep having the same issue with my AirPods.

I told him if I’d known he wanted help unloading or when he was coming back, I would have been ready, but I can’t monitor his actions while I’m working.

He disagrees and says I’m in the wrong.

She thinks it’s unreasonable not to wear her AirPods when she’s working.

I do agree that it was an issue in the past, but him expecting me to not wear my AirPods at all while I’m working feels a bit extreme.

I feel frustrated because it’s hard for me to focus on work as it is, and I don’t think it’s fair for him to expect me to be available at any moment during my work hours just because I’m at home.

I also feel like some of these issues could be solved with clearer communication.

But he feels I should just be more considerate because he’s also busy.

AITA for wearing headphones while working in my home office and not hearing him call me?

Or am I being inconsiderate?

Thanks for your input!

Working from home is still working.

Perhaps it would help if there were set hours during the day when he knows she’ll be wearing her AirPods and won’t be able to hear him.

Then it won’t be a surprise.

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this story.

This person calls the husband “bonkers.”

Yes, complying would create another problem.

He needs to respect her work hours.

Texts are a great solution.

Working from home is still working.

He’s acting childish.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a teenager who wants to work, but his mom thinks working past 8pm is too late for high school.

The husband seems to confuse working from home with being permanently on call for every household inconvenience.

Sending a text or waiting until his wife finished working would go a long way, but repeatedly yelling through the house apparently felt more efficient. Yep. That’ll do.

Perhaps he genuinely misses feeling connected to her, although demanding help with groceries and a charger during business hours is a strange way to express it.

The AirPods were blocking music and distractions, but sadly they could not filter out unreasonable expectations.