When Mike and I got married, I tried to
be the perfect housewife. I cooked and cleaned and pretty much tried to
wait on him and take care of him. That was a mistake. It didn't take
long before I was the *only* one cooking and cleaning, plus working
and/or going to school. Before kids it was ok, but then we had Cadence.
Suddenly I was still doing all the cooking and cleaning, plus taking
care of a baby. Now, don't get me wrong. If I asked, Mike was more than
happy to help out. It's just that sometimes, explaining to him what I
needed done, then showing him how to do it, actually took longer than if
I had done it myself. So that's usually what I did.
Fast
forward a few more years, and now we have two kiddos. And I'm still
doing the major bulk of the cooking, cleaning and childcare around here.
Again, if I ask, he'll gladly help. But I have to ask. And when I ask
constantly, I feel like I'm nagging. And I don't want to become *that*
wife. But I can't do this anymore. I feel like I'm treading water and
not making any progress. And honestly, we both work full time jobs and
there's no reason that I should be doing it all alone.
So,
in response, I made a chore chart. Yes, a bona fide chore chart. It has
a list of all the things that need to be done daily, and I told Mike
that he needed to pick 3 nights to cook and I would sort from there. He
picked Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, so on those days he's supposed to
make dinner, wash/put up a load of clothes and straighten the
bathrooms. I'll straighten the living room and dining room, vacuum, and
clean up after dinner. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the schedule
swaps. I'll admit that I hate cleaning and am fine with minor clutter,
so neither of us have completed all the chores on the list the last two
days (I didn't vacuum tonight, and didn't get both bathrooms finished
yesterday.) But it was SO nice to be able to work on some freelance
stuff or take care of the girls tonight instead of worrying about
dinner. So very very nice.
I'm
not sure how long it will be before I'm back to doing it all, but I'm
going to enjoy it while I can. Hopefully it will continue.
_____________________________
Things I'm thankful for:
1) A husband that will help (even if it takes prodding)
2) A daughter that looks forward to some of her chores
3) A somewhat clean house
4) Not having to worry about dinner every night
5) A family that loves me
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