It is a bit of a gender debate, cleaning and tidying the house. Women ‘always feel they do the majority of the work’ and men feel they do a lot, women just don’t see it.

The Second shift

I did some research on this topic which is called the second shift. This research concludes that in all households the situation is different. One partner is neater than the other, has different standards, and has had a different upbringing. When two people in a household work, this is when household chores come to the forefront as everyone is tired and doesn’t particularly want to do the chores around the house, let alone do some serious organising. Add some children to the mix and a family home could become clutter central.

Working as a team

It doesn’t need to be this way though. It will however require work from all family members in a household to keep things organised. For starters, all members should have their chores and responsibilities. Initially this will require allot of reminding especially children about what their chores are, why and when to do them. Secondly, this is a deceptively simple technique that is probably the hardest thing you will ever do after you get organised and that is putting things away as soon as you are finished with them - later doesn’t exist as clutter multiplies very fast and you will end up with a house full of unfinished jobs, dropped clothes, left plates and cups either on the end of the day or the end of the week.

This week think about what chores you can give the children, how everyone in your family can put things back as soon as they are done with it and see how you go. As for the gender debate, the book was written in 1983, thirty years on I don’t think as a society we have found a solution as yet.

Note: part of this article was originally an Illawarra mercury article updated and refreshed in 2023

Fast forward a decade

I have to say this topic still hits a nerve with me. Since writing this article my kids have become teenagers, I have remarried, and overall chores are much more equally divided. We all study or work, we all pull our weight. We do however, look at strengths and weaknesses so my jobs are helping everyone with decluttering and organising. Cooking, laundry and cleaning, I have outsourced quite well some of the time. Getting the kids to clean up and tidy without nagging, no success yet but I tell myself as a parent I am giving them life skills.