#Microblog Monday 212: Chore Audit
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Real Simple put out a form this summer for conducting a chore audit in your home. It’s a little limiting, and it would probably work better if it had it as Person A, Person B, Person C, etc. and you could fill in the name and work on the form together. But it’s a fantastic idea to take an honest look at what everyone does and see where people can step in to help.
Because you may think you’re doing everything and then realize as you fill out the form that other people in the home sometimes take those tasks. Or you may think that you’re not doing enough but then see how much you’re actually doing to keep the home running.
Like there are only six tasks on that list that are solely mine. Almost everything else, Josh or the twins do a quarter or half the time. And there are four things I never — or almost never — do.
Take a look at the chore audit list. How do chores in your house shake out?
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9 comments
What a good resource. I am going to take this up on weekend and sort out things 😉
Thanks for sharing!
I find lists like this fascinating. There are a lot of tasks on that chart to do with children & pets (and, as condo dwellers, yardwork) that simply don’t apply to me & dh.
Dh does do a lot around the house; at least, more than males traditionally do. He does do most of the cooking & cleanup afterwards, and he usually unloads the dishwasher & puts things away too. He takes the garbage & recycling to the garbage chute, he takes the car in for maintenance, he does the vacuuming. He is better than a lot of husbands at “emotional labour” — keeping to-do lists & shopping lists in his head, etc. — the caveat being that he’s good at it IF/when it’s something that interests him. Most of the stuff on the bottom line of the chart — activity prep, medical appointments, travel & social plans, remembering birthdays etc. & buying gifts for them, is all stuff that I do — and I will admit that I wish he’d take more of an interest in/responsibility for that. I also do the laundry, dusting, bathrooms & deep cleaning. We make the bed together every morning, and we both do financial tasks (I keep track of the bills and the chequebook register and he looks after the investments). Neither of us is particularly handy — he will sometimes ask his brother to come over to help — but when it comes to calling people in for repairs & maintenance, etc., it’s usually me who winds up doing it.
I can definitely see the value in that kind of a list. But, for some reason, it feels overwhelming to me. Maybe because it puts my mind back on things we need to get done!
Interesting. I have long thought that my husband and I have a pretty even split of chores, and this chart confirms that impression. (Although I will say that there are a number of things for which the answer is “No one.” Oops.)
I still need to look at the actual audit, but off the top of my head I would say that we are pretty balanced…I may have to come back and adjust that, though.
Well, I’m glad to see tasks like communicating with schools, making Dr appts, etc. included. I think DH and I are pretty even when it comes to manual type chores but most of the other stuff is on me and I have a lingering resentment over his lack of appreciation/ acknowledgement of this.
They should add dealing with homework for young children (who can’t fluently read long detailed math word problems, need supervision to stay on track, etc.) and dealing with school paperwork—reading logs, forms, etc.
Okay, I’m printing it off as I type this, though not sure I’ll get my husband to do it!
At the moment, though, we have a reasonable division of work. He does far more (okay, everything) outside. I do most of the cooking (except tonight) and cleaning, including his parents’ house, though he will vacuum if forced to. Going from someone who never stacked the dishwasher, he does it every day now, which is great! We share financial things though he probably does more than I do, and I of course do almost all the emotional labour. That’s the only thing I’m less happy about. He does by far the most when it comes to looking after his parents, but I don’t feel too guilty about that (considering I currently have a very sore back after cleaning their house).
What a great resource! I think I’ll take the audit just to show the husband that I don’t spend all my time holed up in the studio; I actually help him around in the house (a little) too!
I’ll have to spend more time with this. The pro tip made me laugh!