I was talking to one of my coworkers last night at work and got a kick out of what she was telling me about her husband. Don’t get me wrong we love our husbands dearly but it seemed like she was talking about my husband. She was laughing and joking around a little bit, but some of the conversation turned pretty tense.
It all began because she had been a stay at home mom for the past couple of years. Now that the baby is a little bit older she decided to go back to work to make some money. What she has realized though is that her house is a mess, she can’t keep up with the laundry or dishes and she doesn’t know what to do. She mentioned that her husband doesn’t really notice or at least doesn’t do much about it. It was really funny to listen to her talk and to feel that I could totally relate to her. What is the anwer all you women out there? Are we really suppose to just let it go when we feel we are unable to work full-time and keep up with the house?
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If neither of you have kids old enough to help and just have a lazy husband, here’s what works for me. Keeping up with the dishes is easy once you have a new routine and cooperation from hubby.
Load the dishwasher with the dinner dishes before going to bed and run it. In the morning while the coffee is brewing, unload the dishwasher. During the day, people, ie hubby, who bring dirty dishes into the kitchen should put the dishes directly into the dishwasher - NOT into the sink. Make it as easy for them to put them into the dishwasher as you can - like leave the door open and the top rack half out, if you have to. Make it hard to put the dishes into the sink - put something large into the sink if you have to - like set the fish bowl over the drain or fill the sink with suds and dog toys that need washing.
Make a big deal of it every night with lots of praise when you get home and find the dishes in the dishwasher. But if you find dishes in the sink - refuse to cook and tell everyone they can make peanutbutter sandwiches. When they get tired of peanut butter sandwiches, they will suddenly start remembering to put the dishes into the dishwasher.
Worked for me!
Laundry has a lot to do with standards. I know people who strip the bed and wash their bed sheets every morning. In fact, Jackie Kennedy had the white House maids strip the beds TWICE each day, so don’t tell me that she didn’t know what John was up to behind her back! But that’s not necessary in my house, and probably not yours.
Unless they are soiled from something unusual, I only strip the beds on Saturday morning and wash a load of linens and towels first thing Saturday.
Another thing about laundry is that I never iron. If the clothing needs to be ironed or dry cleaned, I don’t buy it. When I’m doing laundry, the dryer buzzes when it is done and I get there quick to take the clothes out and hang them up immediately so they don’t get wrinkled.
Another tip - I quit sorting and folding socks. I have a drawer of socks for him and a drawer of socks for me. His are all white tube socks anyway except for a couple pairs of dark dress socks. When folding clothes, the socks go directly into the his or her drawer from the basket. If he can’t find a pair in his sock drawer, he isn’t looking very hard.
All of this saves a little time and makes it easier for the person doing the chores.