Buying a home is a big accomplishment, and you want your home to reflect your family and your lifestyle. That means decorating, choosing appliances, and making other decisions, but sometimes you may have to divide things up. For example, how should the household chores be divided among the family members? Should you live alone, or should everyone pitch in? How you divide responsibilities will make a big difference in how happy you and your family are-and how smoothly the house runs.
Family relationships are always changing, and it can be difficult to keep track of who does what at home. Here are some tips on dividing household responsibilities among the family members.
Make it a team
Dividing household chores is tricky because many homes today have more than one family unit sharing the same roof. For example, the parents of a blended family or those living in a polyamorous relationship may share the same property with children from other partners. This can result in a hodge-podge approach to household chores, resulting in resentment and friction within the household.
It might be challenging to assign each person a share of the maintenance duties when buying a property or renting an apartment. Also, due to the fact that home and property maintenance could not only be an issue now but might also become one in the future when your kids become older, it’s really advisable to make a will or trust in the name of your kids up front. This can make your work simpler and could prevent future property disputes between your children.
Besides, while it’s generally a good idea to assign each family member a responsibility, but some families also have difficulty deciding how to split the tasks. While some people may take more of a hands-on approach, others may prefer to handle a lot of the responsibilities remotely, which entails tracking when and what bills have been paid and who’s taking care of what chores. While this approach may be easy on one person, it can prove to be hard on the rest of the family. To help everyone keep their head above water, a family can create a team approach instead of assigning everyone individual responsibilities. In some cases, however, you might need the assistance of a professional, for tasks such as window repair, Carpet Cleaning, tree care, and electrical circuit repairs, as it may be dangerous for a family member without proper knowledge to undertake.
Make it fair
When dividing responsibilities amongst family members, it’s essential to keep things fair. Dividing up your chores and other household responsibilities so that everyone has a fair share of tasks is a fair way of dividing up the duties. It’s up to you to distribute the responsibilities, but keeping each person’s workload to a reasonable level is important.
When discussing family, one thing is certain: the average family size has shrunk significantly over the past 50 years. This is good news since some families have more time to dedicate to helping out around the house. However, since every member likely has different strengths, it’s a good idea for each member to take responsibility for specific tasks, rather than everyone taking on the work equally. Just like in any relationship, conflicts can arise when one person feels like they are being treated unfairly.
Make it in turns
With kids growing up fast these days, parents often struggle to figure out how they can divide up the parenting responsibilities among their family members. Is it fair to always let one parent handle all the childcare duties? Or should it be shared equally, leaving each parent alone with the kids for the same amount of time? These scenarios leave many parents and children in a bind, and people often feel like they need to figure out a parenting solution on their own. But there may be a better way. Things can get hectic when everyone’s running around doing their own thing. With everyone busy with jobs and raising kids, there’s little time for all of them to chip in around the house. Especially if one person is the “housekeeper” while everyone else is messy, then one day it might be time to divide up the chores. The biggest divide in the house is who gets to do the laundry, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Even if one person does the bulk of the laundry, the rest of the household can still pitch in by folding and putting away their dirty clothes. Likewise, if one person does the dishes, the others can put away the washed dishes in the lazy susan cabinet, clean the countertops and shop for groceries. The same can be done for any other chores you need to accomplish.
We all have chores to do around the house. That house, however, may not belong to just you. If you have a partner or spouse, you need to divide responsibilities, as you are bound to have disagreements. When it comes to combining household chores, controversy arises. One may feel that their job is more important than the other. Solely depending on the other to do the chores is unhealthy and does not help in the long run.