Chores?

News Flash: I am not a neat person. I am organized in my own little--stack it up in piles, throw it in a bag, toss it on the counter--type of way. Right now, my coffee table looks a little bit like a frat house, only sub diet Dr. Pepper cans for beer cans and cookbooks and pediatric drug dosing books for pizza boxes. The last person to vacuum was definitely my husband, and there may or may not be a load of laundry in the washer that needs to be repeated because I forgot to move it to the dryer in time.

Having admitted that, I would also like to make known that I feel like I do my part to make our little 900 square feet a happy home. Sure, the crock pot sitting on the counter right now may take an extra soaking to thoroughly scrub it, but that roast I cooked in it was mighty delicious. Sure, there may be 7 dog toys strung across the living room, but those dogs sure do live a luxurious life. And quite possibly I will remember the time spent snuggled on the sofa in that blanket (that still needs to be put away)watching tv with my husband a little more than I will remember that it took an extra day to empty the dishwasher or dust the furniture.

When it comes to picking up after myself, if I am completely far-left, than my husband surely must be completely far-right (or just off the scale altogether). Once upon a time before we were married, I remember a day when he literally jumped at the chance to clean my car for me. You would have thought I bought the man a new puppy or something. This guy can iron a shirt more flat than the cleaners. One time, he asked me if I had starch and I'm pretty sure I accidentally laughed in his face.

While I am the self-proclaimed messy one in this marriage, he certainly does his part to contribute to the pile of laundry on the floor, the dirty dishes on the counter, and the size 13 shoes that I stub my toe on every morning when I get up before the sun rises. His excuse is that by the time he gets around to contributing to the mess, I've already done my part to make it out of control. We are not dirty. We clean from top to bottom mostly every Saturday and pick up at least 2-3 times in between. But, we both do it at our convenience. No schedule, no set chores.

Which leads me to the real reason behind this lengthy explanation of our sanitation grade. Today at lunch, we talked at length about "even distribution of household chores". This conversation was sparked mainly by a topic I heard discussed on the radio the other morning, and partially by the comment that my husband made about how we couldn't have children because I'm messy enough on my own.

The radio topic discussed was about how to fairly split up household chores .... a lady called in to say that she and her husband do everything exactly 50/50. If she loads the dishwasher, he empties. If he does the laundry, she folds it and puts it away. So on, so forth. I am not a firm believer in 50/50. I think some days distribution may be 70/30, 90/10, etc. Others, it may be 20/80. As daily schedules, illnesses, and life gets in the way, time allowed to do certain things changes. I think with everything in life, we should watch out for those around us and help out where needed.

My husband, however, is an advocate of the ... da da dum ... chore chart. I'm pretty sure I even failed at the chore chart when I was in preschool. Stickers, prize boxes, and all. He thinks this will allow us to visualize more clearly (his words) what needs to be done.

How do you divide up necessary (but dreaded!) chores in your home? Does one person do everything, do you split evenly, or just do at your convenience?