Monday, March 10, 2008

Sharing chores

Posted by Tracy Wainwright at 6:48 PM
Share chores: This doesn’t mean that you ask your girlfriend to come over and help you dust and fold laundry (although some moms are able to work out an exchange program.) It means that your house doesn’t have to be spic and span before you have company. And it’s okay to be washing dishes, straightening up, or folding clothes while hanging with your girlfriend. I have found that we moms tend to feel like our house has to look perfect before anyone comes over. I’m not really sure how this got started, but I’m sure that women of ancient times worked together in chores (as a matter of fact, the small amount of sociological study I’ve done shows that in most cultures women did work together in chores – of gathering food, child care, and maintaining homes. Even the wealthy had more than one maid.) And because so many of us feel that our houses need to be perfect before we have company, the rest of us that visit think, “wow, she’s got it all together. I wonder how she does it.” Only to find out that she is struggling just the same as us. I find it much more comforting to know that I’m not the only mom who trips over toys and hardly ever has the kitchen counter completely cleaned off. And I’m much less stressed about it if my girlfriend doesn’t mind me doing dishes and picking up toys while we visit.

1 comments on "Sharing chores"

Robyn Malvasia on March 14, 2008 at 10:19 PM said...

In order ro be comfortable enough with a friend to do this we have to actually be in and out of each others homes and connect on a more intimate level with people around us. This does not happen by us all putting on our "everything is perfect" face at church or the grocery store. This is why I really love the idea of small groups. You meet with a handful of families in someones home and you study the Bible and talk about "real things" and pray each other through lifes struggles.Once you start connecting with people on a more personnal level, dirty dishes and piled up laundry do not matter like you said. You will start to feel comfortable enough for the "chore sharing".

Monday, March 10, 2008

Sharing chores

Share chores: This doesn’t mean that you ask your girlfriend to come over and help you dust and fold laundry (although some moms are able to work out an exchange program.) It means that your house doesn’t have to be spic and span before you have company. And it’s okay to be washing dishes, straightening up, or folding clothes while hanging with your girlfriend. I have found that we moms tend to feel like our house has to look perfect before anyone comes over. I’m not really sure how this got started, but I’m sure that women of ancient times worked together in chores (as a matter of fact, the small amount of sociological study I’ve done shows that in most cultures women did work together in chores – of gathering food, child care, and maintaining homes. Even the wealthy had more than one maid.) And because so many of us feel that our houses need to be perfect before we have company, the rest of us that visit think, “wow, she’s got it all together. I wonder how she does it.” Only to find out that she is struggling just the same as us. I find it much more comforting to know that I’m not the only mom who trips over toys and hardly ever has the kitchen counter completely cleaned off. And I’m much less stressed about it if my girlfriend doesn’t mind me doing dishes and picking up toys while we visit.

1 comments:

Robyn Malvasia said...

In order ro be comfortable enough with a friend to do this we have to actually be in and out of each others homes and connect on a more intimate level with people around us. This does not happen by us all putting on our "everything is perfect" face at church or the grocery store. This is why I really love the idea of small groups. You meet with a handful of families in someones home and you study the Bible and talk about "real things" and pray each other through lifes struggles.Once you start connecting with people on a more personnal level, dirty dishes and piled up laundry do not matter like you said. You will start to feel comfortable enough for the "chore sharing".

 

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