Family Chore Audit
A household is a shared space. The list of chores should also be shared. While some of us have taken on the role as homemaker, housewife or house manager, it is important to align duties to other family members so it is not solely your responsibility to take on every last thing. This will cause major burnout and possibly built up resentment, which isn’t healthy for anyone.
Before my husband and I were married, and we had moved in together, we discussed responsibilities we were comfortable with taking on. As time has moved forward, these lists have changed due to lifestyle changes and circumstances. My husband works outside of the home, and I have taken on the role as homemaker and stay-at-home-mom. This has allotted me more time to do more of the household chores, learn new skills and provide our home with the same dedication I would provide a fulltime, office job. I am still the same hard worker I have always been, this is just a new role and environment I am applying that to. That being said, in certain situations, such as in the early stages of postpartum, my husband does not hesitate to take on more of my tasks so I can focus on healing and baby.
It is super important to have these open conversations with our partners, and even our children as they get older, to share and learn household chores and responsibilities. While it is completely normal and okay for one person in the family to assume more roles than others, it is helpful to become clear who is expected to do certain tasks and for those tasks to be honoured and fulfilled. By creating a list of house tasks, assign each to a family member, by name or assigning a title such as: myself, shared, partner, no one. If no one is assigned, this gives the family an opportunity to take this task on. You can also assign a day of the week this is expected to be done. Based on schedules, this can be adjusted to fit as things change.
Here are some chores to be discussed during a family chore audit:
- Making beds
- Vacuuming
- Mopping
- Dishes
- Loading/Unloading the dishwasher
- Changing the sheets
- Cleaning bathrooms
- Food preperation
- Dusting
- Deep cleaning
- Taking out the garbage/recycling
- Childcare
- Home administration
- Outdoor work
- Gardening
- Chauffeuring the children
- Shopping for family necessities
- Pet care
- Laundry
- Grocery shopping
- Car maintanence
- Home repairs
- Financial requirements
- Event or activity planning and prepping
- Buying cards and presents for friends and family
- Making social plans
- Making travel plans
- Packing for travel
- Making medical/dental appointments
- Home organizing
There are so many tasks we do without thinking about it because it becomes a part of our day to day lives, but when something goes undone and there is not a clear indication as to who is responsible, it can create a friction that is completely avoidable. Now there can be times when life is unpredictable and things go without completion longer than it should, but it gives us the chance to softly nudge the person responsible, or humbly take on that task this time around to help each other out. Just because something is assigned in a family chore audit, does not mean that task is never to be done by anyone else in the family. This is a shared guideline to assist with preventing animosity. A family is a unit. A house is a home. Together, it can be an unbeatable force.
Melanie xoxox