Domestic equality: breaking the taboos!

How can you move further along the path of equality and better share parenting and household chores with your partner? It starts now: action!

I would first of all like to apologise to all those organised mums who don’t have a daily companion with whom to share the domestic chores or the parenting time, because this article is mainly concerned with domestic equality, and therefore the dynamic of the couple with regard to this subject.

When our articles about organisation at home or at the office are shared online, we sometimes receive comments about the fact that we talk first and foremost to mums, or that domestic equality can exist if we decide to make it so….

If domestic equality was really that easy to decide, then women wouldn’t do twice as many domestic and parenting chores as men, and so many of them would not have to settle for a part time job imposed upon them by the difficulty of finding suitable childcare.

So, in order to move in the right direction, we will continue to offer articles that may seem like tirades in order to think about how we can change the balance in our daily lives, along with organisational tips on all kinds of personal and professional subjects that take up our time and occupy our minds… and we hope that you will find some of the tips from other organised mums to be interesting or useful enough to adapt to your own organisation.

2016 has come to an end, and it’s time to assess our work/life balance. And to start shaking things up!

Make a list of everything that you do for your family or your home: best to put pen to paper! The list is pretty long, right?

Choose what you would like to be removed from this list in 2017 and think seriously about how you can delegate to your partner.

Household chores?

Driving?

School, crèche or childminder pickups?

A few hours at the weekend?

Do this exercise in the same systematic way you would do it for someone other than yourself: yes, yes, picture yourself having coffee with the girls the other day, when you showered your friends with good advice….

Right, then! You now have a list that is as detailed as:

Hang out the washing?

Pick Zoe up at the crèche on Tuesday evenings?

Help with homework twice a week?

Go to Tesco’s and put the shopping away on Thursday evenings?

Go to the dry cleaners on Monday morning?

Don’t shrug your shoulders; this list is nothing more than the amount of time and domestic equality that you need.

Now, no fake excuses: men know how to put on washing machines, take care of children, prepare for a spelling test and make breakfast… And don’t forget that your time is as precious as your partner’s!

2017 has begun and it is time to delegate more and better, and above all to use the magic words: “This year I need you to…”

We hope that this article will help you to shake things up a little, or at least to reflect upon your needs!

You can follow us on Facebook or subscribe to the newsletter to receive two articles about organisation each Saturday morning… to read over a nice cup of coffee!