Manipulation 101
Make sure he sees your indoor preparations. Make a big noisy deal out of finding the right old clothes, find the perfect gloves, fill up a water bottle or a thermos as if you are going camping. Gotta catch his attention....but SAY NOTHING. Hum a little. Act important, happy, eager. Go out the door. He WILL peek out the window.
Gather tools, look at the wood, pick pieces up and inspect them. You have to give him time to decide and get dressed.
Pick up the biggest piece of wood or window or whatever that you can handle. You might consider just moving the table saw across the yard (unplug it first!) It doesn't really matter what it is.
Pretend to stagger a bit. This is not the time to show off your womanly strength and stamina.
Pretend to drop the edge of it on your foot, or bump your shin, or something creative. Put the item down and sit on the grass, facing AWAY from the house.
Rub your leg, foot, whatever, for a minute or so. Look at all the tools, wood, shingles, etc. Take off a glove and use the edge of your sleeve to dab at your eyes. It is important that you be facing away from the house at this point so he does not see you laughing.
You may have to get up again and wander around aimlessly, picking up and putting things down in confusion.
If he is still not out there with tools in hand, you will have to pull out the big guns: pick up an electric saw and move out of his line of sight. Plug it in and turn it on. You don't necessarily have to use it, just the sound will bring him running.
I got a lot of fencing put up using this technique. Funny, when I asked the guys at
TSC how to install it, they never told me about this method. It works the best for a variety of tasks.
IMPORTANT: As stated by other BYCers, lots of praise is important. Admire his muscles, intelligence, skill with tools, etc. Watch and admire for a while, then ask if he would prefer your help, or if he'd rather you go in and make his favorite dinner.
DON'T attempt these techniques during an important game on tv!
