Domestic duties.....who does them in your relationship? (girls, love, older)
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For my response, I would say that I do the majority of the cooking... and when I cook it's normally meals with a lot from scratch (saltimbocca, stuffed pork chops, spaghetti, beef stroganoff, barbeque, etc.). When my wife does the cooking, it's normally from a box (hamburger helper) or quick (grilled ham and cheese), but it does give me a break now and again.
Right now the kids do the dishes, but when they go back to visit their mom for the summer, our deal is whoever didn't cook does the dishes.
For cleaning, my wife does most things with the floor (vacuuming/sweeping) and dusting. I do the house maintentance stuff, yard/lawn care (but I'm introducing my son to that!), and our bathroom.
The laundry is split. If she does it, she does it. If not, I'll do it on Sundays between watching football (turnovers, quarter ends, halftime, etc.). Those are great times to switch loads, and I can fold while watching.
I do all of the cleaning, he does most of the cooking. When we have dinner though, I try to be fair and say "if you cook, I'll clean".. but the rest of the house is mine and I do his and my own laundry. Some things are just done better when you do them yourself LOL
The laundry is split. If she does it, she does it. If not, I'll do it on Sundays between watching football (turnovers, quarter ends, halftime, etc.). Those are great times to switch loads, and I can fold while watching.
Wow...you're a good man!!!! I trust my husband with my life, but not my laundry.
I think it's funny this is some big point of contention in a lot of marriages. You don't have to be rich to hire a housekeeper once a week to make things tidy, and I don't expect a girl to be able to cook, just go out, you can eat at places like Subway that's still healthy and cheap. Or you can buy deli food at the local grocery store for reasonable prices. Yet I hear marriages break up over things like this. If it's that big of a problem don't get married until you have the money to hire people to do this crap for you. I certainly wouldn't.
Because I'm the guy with the flexible schedule, I do the cooking, most of the cleaning, and the various errands of picking up, dropping off, etc. etc. Plus I mow and rake.
Our housekeeper, Mildred, does the laundry on Monday. She's 75, and really doesn't clean any more. In fact, we have to play "Where did Mildred put the clothes THIS time?" at least once a week. However, we couldn't possibly get rid of her, given that she's worked for us for ten years. I might as well can a family member.
Mrs. CPG comes from a far handier family than mine, so she likes to hang things, do minor repairs, etc. She also will get a wild hair and do some major cleaning.
Both of us split homework duties with the kids. Typically, I cover social studies and English, while she handles math, and both of us do science.
The kids are responsible for: Cleaning their own rooms and the basement, making their own beds, and keeping their bathroom clean. They must also run the vacuum cleaner in the upstairs and the basement, take out the garbage and recycling, and clean the kitchen after dinner. My nine-year-old son helps me cook. They don't do everything perfectly, but they've certainly gotten far better over time. I personally cannot fathom parents who don't make their children responsible for the condition of the house. You might as well count on them living with you until they're 26 or so.
I think it's funny this is some big point of contention in a lot of marriages. You don't have to be rich to hire a housekeeper once a week to make things tidy, and I don't expect a girl to be able to cook, just go out, you can eat at places like Subway that's still healthy and cheap. Or you can buy deli food at the local grocery store for reasonable prices. Yet I hear marriages break up over things like this. If it's that big of a problem don't get married until you have the money to hire people to do this crap for you. I certainly wouldn't.
Ah. The indolent rich kid chimes in again. Even with a housekeeper, there are tons of things to do between her visits, particularly if you have children. If we waited for a housekeeper to show up once a week, the house would be a disaster. What's more, if one person spends her non-working hours scurrying around the house putting things away while the other person drapes himself on the couch watching the idiot box every night, it's bound to cause ill-will over time.
Further, if everybody is reasonably responsible and attentive, it takes about thirty minutes a day to keep the house tidy, with a couple of hours thrown in on the weekend. It's really not that hard. You just have to not be a slob. In fact, I would argue that relying on a housekeeper to keep the place clean while your children play the Wii borders on being morally wrong. For you cannot expect a child with no responsibilities to magically get it the day they leave for college. So by enabling laziness in your children you are, in effect, inflicting someone on the world who will be forever dependent on others.
Now, let's just talk about the economics of what you're suggesting. Let's see, a housekeeper charges roughly $100 a day. Now, that means you have to earn $200 before taxes to pay for that housekeeper. Moving on to eating out. A family of five going to Subway is $30. That's $60 in pre-tax earnings for food that is not nutritionally sound. Sure, Subway is better than McDonalds, but it still isn't healthy eating no matter what the reformed fatty Jared tells you. And the list goes on and on. My wife and I make really good incomes, but we also don't blow our money when we can save it. People who've never had to really work for their money just don't seem to get that.
For the rest of you struggling to keep it all together at home, try Flylady.com. It's a great site that helps you keep the house clean in a minimum amount of time.
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