Should Housework Be Shared Responsibility?

When a man and woman get married, if they haven't discussed sharing the household duties, they may be in for a rude awakening. Gone are the days when women just expected to have to do the majority of the chores and men just expected them to. Even when there are children, many women rightly expect to have a night out, called "date night" with their husband. Many also expect an occasional evening out with the girls to go shopping or for brunch.

In many of the best marriages, the husband and wife take turns cooking and preparing meals. I know of many men who cook better than their wives, and they would rather do the cooking and let their wives take care of other chores. It makes more sense to divide the chores according to abilities anyway. Ironing is more important to some men than women. If it is more important that his wife's jeans have a perfect crease in them, and the woman would just as soon wear clothes that are wash and dry, who says he can't take over that duty, leaving her more time to teach their children to read, write or to play a game?
My husband likes to have the sink cleaned out sometime after dinner is eaten. I try to do the dishes as I go along, while preparing a meal, but if I don't get them done then, I know my hubby will clean them up later on. When he takes care of taking out the trash, preparing an occasionl meal and the dishes, he says that he knows I will have more energy to be amorous. It's very important to let your spouse know how much you appreciate their help with the chores too. Occasionally, going up behind them when they are doing the dishes and hugging them and giving them a kiss on the neck goes a long way toward making them feel loved and really cherished! I also add, "And thank you for doing the dishes!"

Some couples prefer to share the grocery shopping too; others prefer to take turns. My husband and I usually look over the store sale flyer ahead of time, take any coupons we have with us, and take separate items to find in the aisles, occasionally comparing notes on sale prices and ingredients in prepared foods. We love to comparison shop, and, now that we both stay at home, it has become a necessity. When you both do the shopping together, you can pick up a cooked chicken to have as soon as you get home, but if one of you does the shopping while the other one prepares the dinner ahead, you can both eat when the shopping is completed. Shopping together when you're organized is a lot quicker though. Being organized pays off.

Lovemaking is usually best when it's a shared endeavor rather than when one person just lies there and the other does everything. Housework works best in a similar fashion. When the housework is shared, it leaves more time for lovemaking or another shared activity!