There is one thing my husband and I have fought about since day one of living together, the dreaded household chores. Laundry, dishes, vacuuming, dusting, and cooking. I don't know why men integrate the idea into their little brains that women will turn into these little cleaning fairies who flit around the house doing their dirty work.
My day cannot function without some kind of routine and organization. If my house is messy I get stressed. My home is my space, my retreat from the sometimes hateful world. If I enter my world of peace and am greeted by shoes and socks blocking the door, sinks full of dirty dishes, laundrey thrown on my bed to be folded I literally freak out.
Hmm . . . maybe I am the problem after all?
I just think men are oblivious to how any of it gets done at all and how important a clean space is.
I strip my kids beds once a week and wash their sheets and comforters and happened to be doing this on a day my hubby was home. He looks at me, confused, and said, "I didn't know you were supposed to wash all that."
Really? I bet you didn't know that every time you leave socks on the floor I toss them in the trash.
My idea of a clean house is so very far from my husband's idea of a clean house it's not even funny. Yes, as we have previously established, I am very OCD about . . . well, everything.
But here is the catch I struggle with: Greg works on average about sixty hours a week enabling me to basically be a stay at home mom and keep our lovies out of daycare. It's hard not to feel resentful when I have spent the whole day cleaning and he trots in with his shoes on no less, tosses his dishes in the sink and leaves crumbs all over the counter.
Do I even have the right to get mad after all his hard work?
If I don't know where he is in the house, all I have to do is follow his mess. A sock here, pair of shoes over there, cookie crumbs down the hall...
Do same sex relationships have these problems? If not, I am switching sides.
All joking aside, Greg and I have since worked out these little To-Do List issues( three years of whining about who is going to do what. At one point I actually stopped doing his laundry. It took him weeks to even notice.)
I will share a few tips on how to have a Happy Cohabitation.
1.Drop all expectations that your significant other will "just take care of it"
2. Don't toss shit on the floor. Laundry baskets, and dressers were made for a reason!
3. Emptying your razor shavings into the sink does not count as cleaning up after yourself
4. There is no such thing as a dust free house. Someone is dusting and if it aint you, it needs to be.
5. Cleaning can be fun! Make it a naughty weekend game. Dress up and "help" one another scrub the floor.
6. No matter how busy you are, it really takes like ten seconds to toss a few clothes into the washer or dryer.
7. Most importantly, couples who share chores have more sex! Really!
Happy cleaning.
