Do you fair share

One of the biggest battles in keeping the house clean, in my opinion is who is going to do the work. Everyone enjoys and benefits from a clean organized house (even if they don't appreciate it,) but no one wants to do the work.

How do successful households split the workload or decide who does what? It's not so simple as it was thirty years ago when most Moms stayed home and handled all the housework while Dad went out and earned the money coming home to a clean house and dinner on the table. Now with blended families, and multiple generations sometimes living under the same roof, things get complicated. Also thrown into the mix is that in many households both parents or all the adults work.

I'm curious readers, how do you decide how to split the workload or what factors come into play when making your decision. If one parent works and the other doesn't, does that sway you one way or the other? Do you insist on a 50/50 division? If your living with roommates or parents does how much rent you pay matter one way or the other? Do you or your spouse feel cleaning is woman's work? Do you just go ahead and do it yourself because you know it won't get done any other way and it bothers you more than anyone else in your household?

One of the organizational books I am reading, and finding helpful is Sink Reflections by Marla Cilley. She is the Flylady. Her cleaning and decluttering system is one that I believe can really work. I haven't put it all into practice yet, but I am working on it. One of the things she says is just do it yourself, you and your family will be happier for it. Fighting with family to try and get them to change and bend to your way of doing things is only stressful for you and for them. It makes a lot of sense.

Do I think we should have to do everything ourselves? No, but if you just accept the fact that you need to work on yourself and your habits before you can get around to changing anyone else you'll be a much happier, less stressed person. My father and I are both pack rats. No getting around it. The funny thing is, we both tend not to notice our own clutter, but the other person's clutter drives us crazy. If we each just worried about our own stuff, and getting rid of the junk we each have accumulated then we would actually get something done. It's easier though to ignore your own junk and pick on someone else's then to actually sit done and declutter and part with your own things. We have each decided to spend an hour a day cleaning or decluttering. I am going to attempt to give away/throw away 900 things this month. I know that sounds like a lot but I have a lot of junk. That breaks down to about 30 things a day. I'll be posting a ticker tape to keep track. Wish me luck!!