For the men...Do you help out with the chores and housework at home? What do you like and do not like doing, do you have to be pushed into chores, do you volunteer to do them, or try to avoid them? Tell us any tips on how to get out of chores if you know any and want to share your secrets.
Chores? Mehn, growing up I hated most Saturdays because it was actually boring and stressful.
I hated the fact that I had to wash all my dirty clothes for the week in one day, I hated washing clothes on Saturdays? Damn, it felt like I was doing the most difficult thing for the week.
Now, this is the reason - I wash very differently from others, for me to wash it means I have to scrub and scrub and scrub even if my clothes were not that dirty, I just felt that I had to put in more and more effort for it to be clean, so I spend or should I say waste so much energy and time washing.
I mean, everyone in the house and neighborhood is done with their washing except for me, it felt like I was left alone to suffer 😂.
Now, back to the regular chores at home, chores like cleaning the tv, parlour gadgets, washing the bathrooms and toilets were my favorite Saturday chores but you had to force me to do them. Yes, favourite because they were actually less stressful than washing my clothes.
Well, I try to avoid them but as usual my African mum will come yelling at us and we will all be wondering who should go first and do the chores. My mum wouldn't actually pick anyone, she has her way, she will guilt trip you into doing one of the Saturday chores.
As a kid, I hated those yells and scorns because I thought, "oh, today is Saturday and I just have to rest" (a lazy teenager's thought by the way). But now I'm all grown, in my mid 20s and I just have to thank God and mum for those yells and scorns, they helped build the type of guy I am today.
Now I am grown and I know that doing house chores is not a gender role. It is common belief here in Africa that house chores are meant for the female gender but that is a very wrong and corrupt notion and my mum helped change that philosophy in my life. Thanks to her!
Now, over to the best part.
To make your Saturdays less stressful and to be able do your chores with ease and have more time to yourself during weekends, I will suggest the following:
- WASH YOUR CLOTHES BEFORE THE WEEK ENDS: I do not know for others but for me, we grew up with the notion that clothes are meant to be washed only on weekends and so this is where the stress comes in.
You wear clothes from Sunday to Friday only to wash them on Saturdays, come on, they will be too bulky for you, so make sure you wash on week days even if it means washing only in bits.
WAKE UP EARLY: Now, this is where a lot of us fail, I know it is a weekend, but waking up early actually makes you a lot more in charge of your day and time and keeps you ahead of others. While others are sleeping, you've done more than 1 or 2 chores. If you need more sleep, you can take a siesta during the day and guess what, siestas are very beneficial to your brain and health in general.
WRITE DOWN YOUR PLANS FOR THE DAY: Write down what you would love to accomplish for the day, things like washing, cleaning, cooking. Write them all down, it helps you manage your time and also stay in charge.
These are my tricks on how I make my Saturday productive and less stressful for me. Thank you.
Expecting to read yours as well.
