I was wondering how many days a week do you do chores in your house? I don't mean everyday things like taking out the garbage or clearing the dishwasher, but bigger things like yardwork, grocery shopping, cleaning the house, etc. Little background - both my husband and I work and he ends up doing a bulk of the work around the house for a variety of reasons I won't get into here. He obviously wants me to "step it up", but a) we have very different standards of what NEEDS to be done and b) I have a very stressful job and would prefer to leave all the bigger things for my 2 days off work while he believes the bigger chores should be spread out throughout the week. He's arguing with me that it is just not possible to cram all of the bigger chores into two days. So I thought I'd post here to see what the consensus is. Any opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I think every couple handles the division differently so there is no set rule. Also it seems like every couple has different definitions of what clean means so there is always a compromise.

So that being said ...

With us, I hate to shop. Hate hate it. Bob loves it. So he shops 2 to 3 times a week to get meats that are fresh and to watch for specials.

In the warmer months we're probably out in the yard a little every evening. It's relaxing to reconnect with nature and tend to our corner of the world. It is relaxing and nice together time.

We both have laid back ideas about house cleaning. We have roombas
So those auto vacuum. We have a scooba for the kitchen floor. And the rest is a bit every day. One day I do the kitchen. One day, the mail stack in the living room. That was it's always fairly quick, easy, and satisfying. A nice dose of got-it-done each day in only a few minutes. It's relaxing.

bluepoet, I am single so my schedule may not be suitable for you and hubby. When I worked my 9 to 5, I had certain days for chores, it is still pretty much the same for me now. I liked to do my laundry on Monday, when I worked, I often put dirty clothes in the machine as soon as I got home. I did this because I worked at a pretty stressful job, not every day was stressful but no day was a piece of cake. I often worked late but my laundry schedule stood--I found it calming.

I know it is a matter of preference, however, in this instance, I must agree with your husband. I prefered to work a couple of hours each night after work. This way I had much of the weekend for reading or doing something else I enjoyed after a quick pick up/clean up around the house. But, truth be told, I found it relaxing doing something that did not require a lot of thought. For my bathroom floor I used and continue to use Swifter refill cloths without the mop. I do my bathroom floors on my knees and it takes no time at all, that's one of my weekend things. As is very early morning weekend shopping *before* a crowd get out. I never shopped on Friday after work because many people had that idea.

It all depends. when I was married, my ex did not want to do anything during the week, it really aggrevated his mother who complained that when his father was alive, he would do things all week.

It really bothered me because when the weekend came, all he wanted to do was "rest" did I mention he was only working part time?

For me it all depends, there are days when I feel it's imperative that I mow the lawn. I do my best to save the major, major tasks, like heavy digging, for the weekend.

Vannie, I totally agree with you on the Friday after work shopping - definitely a no for me too. I actually prefer to get up at the crack of dawn on Saturday and head to the grocery store.

It is interesting, when I was married it never occurred to me that my husband would or should help around the house. Of course now I don't feel that way. When I was growing up I never saw my dad do anything in the way of cleaning, I brought that to my marriage.

By the way Dianne, I love crack of dawn shopping :-)

Hubby does the vacuuming and heavy shopping as we just use bikes. I do laundry M - F, not on the weekends. I do the bathroom and kitchen. He does house maintenance and repairs. I do gardening. I do the cooking and dishwashing. I feel comfortable with those divisions.

Susan your chore divisions fair.

And, I love the idea of using a bike for shopping. My guess is you don't buy bags and bags of items at one time? If I lived where it was safe to ride a bicycle, I think I would take time to learn how to ride

Vannie, I live in a village in The Netherlands. Everyone bikes around town. I can carry 5 cloth sacks on my bike - two in each saddle bag over the back wheel and one in the front basket. And between the back saddlebags I strap on the tators... I'm careful to balance the weight. The two markets I like are each about 2 blocks away.

Hello Everyone,

I do chores everyday and then I have weeklies, monthlies and three-monthlies. The nearly last category is every-now-and-then and the last category is when I have to!

I try to stick to these otherwise my time management just goes AWOL and I get fussed when I have too much to do and not enough time to do it in.

Dailies include kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and floors. I do a load of washing whenever (daily if necessary) but I never let it pile up. I iron while planning my next day (have a recorder next to me that I talk into).

Weeklies include steaming floors and walls, dusting window sills and tops of doors and frames of pictures etc; monthlies include emptying clothes/shoes and linen cupboards and repacking and sorting. Three monthlies are catchup on whatever I have skipped on or carried over (like defrosting the Fridge and freezer etc.)Weeklies are done on Wednesdays after 3pm when I take an early day.

I shop as an early bird on Saturdays (get the bargains too) and use the rest of the morning to sort out what I need for the weekend (friends over etc) then I relax and take my time out to read, hobby etc.

I spend around two hours a day in my garden (have a helper) and cook for pleasure on Sundays when I make food ahead that I freeze when I can.

I slip up a lot, have to keep starting over again but this is very quickly so that I am not overwhelmed. I declutter daily, give away something if I buy something new and try to keep sane.

I have left out a lot but am sure you see what I mean. I have a dog so his baths fit into the every now and then category though he does get fed daily! It takes a lot to run a home as we all know and do, but I keep trying to stay planned and regular and focused. Otherwise I would go crazy.

I am a very busy startaGenner; but we get there.

Cheers

Susan to me that sounds idyllic(sp?) but challenging.

Lestie, my dalies are pretty much like yours. I have one day that I use for picking up my business mail and run small errands. I often use that day as one to have coffee with a friend. On the way home, I stop at my favorite "cheap" store to see what I can find--the last time I picked up two really great coffee mugs. A fun thing to do before I settle in to read my mail.