Parents know how hard it can be to keep on top of daily schedule demands. Not only are you changing diapers/helping with homework/giving driving lessons, there’s also the rest of your own life: your work, friends, finances, mother-in-law, etc.
One task on many parents’ long to-do lists is keeping up with household cleaning. From 10-minute tasks, like cleaning up after pets or putting away dishes, to jobs that easily eat up an hour, such as washing floors and vacuuming, keeping your house spic and span can be a considerable burden.
And, as many parents do, you may sometimes feel the rest of your family doesn’t always help out the way you hoped they would. So what do you do to distribute the load, without getting in arguments that take longer than the chores themselves?
Try these strategies:
- Suggest a job swap. Is it your spouse’s supposed duty to take care of the bathroom, lawn, or laundry upkeep…yet you usually find yourself doing it? Maybe the other party would find another task more feasible. The things people view as too tedious or annoying vary from one person to the next — while your partner may secretly dread weeding, he or she could find ironing relaxing.
- Quantify your contributions. Are you punching in for the boss, then coming home and working double overtime? Diplomatically present your situation with numbers: a gently but rationally presented case can clarify to your household just how unevenly jobs are distributed. Instead of yelling or nagging, which can make your listener less receptive, explain in hours what you’re doing compared to what others are doing (or not doing). You may find, after this discussion, other people feel equally strapped for time — that’s okay, but it doesn’t mean you have to retract your frustration. Try initially dividing the top three or four cleaning tasks. With luck, you can distribute others as time goes on.
- Turn cleaning chores into principles. Single parents, particularly single parents with young children, aren’t necessarily in a position to dole out household cleaning. Instilling responsibility while letting your kid be a kid is a delicate balance — but it’s never too early to teach your child by example the value and personal payback of a clean, organized living space. Even if it’s too early to assign a few chores, you might make more of an impression than you’d think by simply vocalizing your thoughts: “Isn’t it nice to be able find all your socks together in the same drawer? Doesn’t it make you feel cozy to crawl into a clean, made-up bed?” For some kids, this can initially mean nothing. But when they’re old enough for an allowance, their viewpoints may change.
For many families, household chores can often be a prickly subject. Don’t get discouraged if squabbles over who does what aren’t immediately wiped away like a tabletop spill — what matters is your effort to communicate and start fresh. In the meantime, organize a family under-the-bed check…who knows, you might discover that missing Barbie, an old family photo album, or 20 bucks (finder takes all).
— Submitted by PetalSweet Cleaning, a residential and commercial cleaning company headquartered in Medina
