Today is Jermaine and my 3 week anniversary as a married couple and ohh wee everything has changed! Just kidding!
Everything feels the exact same minus being addressed as “his wife” and being able to say “my husband”. Because we lived together prior to being married, our living dynamic stayed intact. But as a wife, I do feel like there is more I should do as far as household chores as a new married couple.
I shudder at the thought of clutter. He shudders at the thought of dirt.
I think knowing each other’s cleaning preferences helps a great deal with ways to split household chores. Below are my ways to split household chores as a new married couple!
5 Easy Ways to Split Household Chores
1. Base the chores off of what you and he like to do. Jermaine LOVES cooking so he takes care of the cooking and grocery shopping. Now that we are married, it is my job to do the dishes after eating. Since he made the delicious food, I can clean up the kitchen mess. Although I will say he is a very tidy chef and likes to clean as he cooks! It is extremely important to find out what each person finds to be important. For me its about simplicity and less is more and for him it is about cleanliness. Communication is key to finding out what makes a house feel like a “home” for each of you.
2. Since organizing and de-cluttering is my thing, I take on the role of arranging things in the cabinets, drawers, and around the house. I tend to make our bed, clean up the bathroom counters, fold his clothes that end up on the side of the bed etc. He cannot stand dirt so he does most of the vacuuming and toilet cleaning.
3. Do not split the chores 50/50. Studies show that when the emphasis is on making sure the work is equal and you are rigid on it, the marriage has more of a chance of ending. Why? Because the couple is more focused on making sure they are equal rather than being happy and getting things done for the betterment of the house. So if Jermaine does more one week, I do not try to tit for tat him and instead just clean like normal. One day there will be a situation where I end up doing more. The goal is a clean house and not getting credit or having a competition.
Shop the Outfit
4. If there is a chore that we both extremely HATE to do, we flip a coin to see who will do it for that week. We leave it to chance instead of bickering about it. Again a healthy marriage is more important than who does what in our opinion.
5. Work as a team and make it fun! If Jermaine is grilling out, then I will be his sous chef and cut the veggies. If he is vacumming, then I will move the furniture. Doing things together improves intimacy and can make it feel less daunting.
So to all my readers who are co-habitating or married… What are some ways you split household chores?
Shoot Details
Jermaine was going to the store to buy some things for dinner. If you read previously, he is the cook and darn good one at that! I decided to tag along so I could get some photos inside the store. We do alot of our shopping at the international market because the seafood is cheaper. I felt really stupid and paranoid shooting inside the store and we used our small canon g7x mark ii camera to look as inconspicuous as possible. Although the shots were pretty dark, with the help of lightroom I was able to make them work enough although they have ALOT of grain!
