The division of “household labor” is non-existent in many busy homes. Between work, kids and social outings, housework usually falls on one set of weary shoulders:the wife’s. After a while, many wives become resentful, especially if they have a day job, as housework becomes the "second shift."
In order to avoid a marriage meltdown, creating an action plan that will not only motivate your hubby to help around the house, but create peace and balance within the marriage, is one way forward.
Steps
Determine what needs to be done. From laundry to taking out the garbage, make a list of all the weekly chores and who currently completes the task. In defining the mandatory tasks, you clear the first hurdle of your husband overlooking the tasks left undone. Moreover, identifying the exact chores can help both of you see what constitutes household work. Typical chores include:
Tidying all areas of the house
Laundry (washing, ironing, folding and putting away)
Grocery shopping, plus other sundry store visits
Cooking, washing the dishes
Bill payment and sorting
Yard work, gardening and maintenance
Getting children to and extracurricular activities,medical visits, etc.
Pet care, including grooming, vet visits, feeding, etc.
Define easy, moderate and difficult tasks. Rate each task by considering how time-consuming it is, how strenuous, and how often it must be performed. For example, washing the floors may be a moderately difficult task, what with mopping, sweeping, waxing, etc.
When writing up the list, consider items that could make cleaning easier. For example, can you upgrade the vacuum cleaner or get better detergent? These can be excellent tasks to assign to your husband. Making him feel that he has bought the items can give him a greater sense of pride in using them to prove that they're doing the job than the old items!
Ask for help. Unless you ask, he mightn't know that you need help, and you may never know how much more he can contribute. Make a date with your husband to discuss the chores. Schedule your date after a fun day or even a long week at work––just avoid booking time immediately following an argument or when something else has your husband's attention. Grab some wine, get away from the kids (and the TV),and bring your list to the date.
Begin by telling your husband how much you appreciate what he does around the house. Reference the tasks he performs already and talk about how his contributions make a difference in how well the family functions. Then go on to explain that because you feel as if you're taking on more than you can handle, you’d love him to help out more.
Show him the list of tasks so that he can see the multitude of household chores in black and white.
Don't tell him that you think it’s unfair that you’ve been doing the majority of the work––chances are, he’s never thought of your housework input as being unbalanced. Just tell him that his contributions would help maintain your energy levels, and give your family more time to do things instead of waiting around while you finish the housework.
Ask him to review your list and find the chores that he wouldn’t mind taking on. Steer him toward the chores that may not require previous homemaking experience, like bathing the pets, sweeping, or cleaning the toilets.
Since he may have never tackled these “new” chores, tell him how you accomplish the work and when. Don't tell him that he must do the chores one way and on a certain day, but instead explain how you do it and what has worked for you. Don't freak out if he doesn't use your exact approach.
Consider forming a team approach to the household chores. Set aside one time a week where both of you pitch in and do household chores together, after which there is room for relaxing and leisure. Saturday mornings can be a good time if there aren't other commitments since it frees up the rest of the weekend; otherwise choose another time that fits and lets both of you do housework in tandem.
In the spirit of teamwork, break down smaller chores into team efforts, too. For example, you cook, he washes the dishes. You hang the clothes on the line, he takes them off and folds them. You vacuum the floors, he mops the rest. And so on.
Plan cleaning in advance. Prepare his mind and his mood to be engage when the weekend comes to clean the house. Do it together and limit the time so your family doesn't spend the entire day cleaning. The goal is to get your husband to get involved. If it becomes too much, he may not want to do it again. Start small and build from there.
If you and your husband work long hours, determine if you have the finances to hire a weekly cleaning service. Even if one or both of you works from home, having a cleaner can make life a whole lot easier. Consider which tasks you’d like the cleaning service to handle and which tasks would still be your responsibility. Usually weekly cleaning is best left to a cleaner, while both you will need to remain responsible for day-to-day needs and bigger cleans.
BDST: 1555 HRS, MAR-06, 2016
Edited by: Sharmina Islam, Lifestyle Editor
