It has become a joke in my house about my split personality when it comes to chores. Depending on the season and sometimes the day, I may either be demanding that others help, I play the role of a martyr or I just feel like doing it all.
When I demand that others help, it often comes out of left field. It’s as if I suddenly realize how overwhelmed I am and how little everyone has been helping. It doesn’t usually come out in a nice way.
If I play the role of a martyr, I mutter and complain under my breath, just loud enough for others to hear. My hope is that they will decide to jump in.
Other times I find chores to be therapeutic, perhaps even a break from work. I happily immerse myself in the task at hand.
I can’t neglect to mention the other personality, however. This is the good one…the one that has a system in place, which includes well-defined delegation of chores. When this personality is present, I have chore cards made out and everyone knows what is expected of them.
Sometimes this can last for weeks or even months at a time. But then I get tired of making up the cards or reminding kids to do their chores, or whatever other “mood” comes over me.
I find myself right back to one of the other aforementioned personalities. In other words, I am not very consistent when it comes to delegating chores.
Currently, my personality is doing it all on my own. I have been content about it for the most part. Sure, I get my moments when I play the martyr or suddenly demand help. But for the most part, I have spent the past few months taking it all on.
If I were forced to give a reason, I would blame it on the fact that I am seeing how fast time goes by. With one child in my house about to graduate high school and leave for the military, I would just rather treasure my time with my children, rather than force them to do chores.
But that isn’t really my “reason,” it is in fact my “excuse.” When I am doing chores on my own I never have a good reason. So I am back to face the reality of my split personality and have to decide which person do I really want to be? Because the truth is that delegating chores isn’t just for me. It is for the good of my children.
Time to go make up some chore cards…
Related Articles:
Creating a Quarterly Chore List
Deciding Who Is Responsible for Housework
Photo by Clearly Ambiguous on Flickr