It’s been a long while since my last post, but I was inspired by Jennie’s post about how housework is divided in a person’s house (evenly or unevenly) and thought it would be a good topic for discussion.
My husband and I have swung from one side of the pendulum to the other and I think we have landed somewhere in the middle (although he might think differently).
When we first started living together, I did everything. And I mean EVERYTHING. I think the most he did was bring his dirty plate TO the sink. This went on for a while until I finally broke down and just started screaming and yelling about how I couldn’t do it anymore and how I wasn’t his mother. And he got it. I mean, how couldn’t you? He started doing more and more and more without ever being asked. Then I got lazy and I started slacking, and we literally came all the way over to the other side where he did EVERYTHING and I sat on my fat butt and did nothing. One day I just realized that I wasn’t being fair to him and I started to do a few things around the house. Now I think it’s mostly even, although he does more of the crummy jobs. I do all the meal planning and cooking and some of the dishes. He walks the dogs twice a day, does all the outdoor stuff (mowing the lawn, shovelling snow, taking out garbage). Saturdays are pretty much our cleaning days and once we’ve had our coffees and lazed around for a bit we both just kind of get on with the house work. I’ll tidy up, he’ll vacuum, I’ll wash the floors, he’ll start the laundry. We just keep going until it all gets done.
I have to say that Mat does do a lot more, but that’s because he WANTS to. For example, he INSISTS on doing the laundry. I don’t like how he does the laundry and he doesn’t like how I do it, and we actually fought over who got to do the laundry. He promised me he’d do it the way I like just so that he can do the laundry – go figure.
Another “chore” that Mat does that I don’t: washing the cars. I have no interest in this whatsoever, but Mat apparently enjoys it, so I’m not going to argue with that.
I’ve taken over the meal planning and cooking, because let’s face it. We’d only ever eat chicken fingers and frozen pizza if I left it up to Mat.
And the dog walking? We used to do that together, until I hit that “super lazy” phase, and now he just does it. God bless him.
How do you divide the chores in your house? Do you feel it’s “fair”? What would you change (besides hiring someone)?
