Housework and Chores
Doing housework is just like this
I was going to start this blog post by saying that, just like death and taxes, housework and chores are something we all have in common. But I have decided to withdraw that statement having been reminded of some houses I’ve visited during the course of my career. Also Twitch can sometimes reveal all and frequently provides a fascinating, if unknowing window into other people’s homes. Hence it is patently obvious that some folk are indifferent to the concept of housekeeping, basic hygiene and human decency. So instead I shall say that for many of us, housework and chores are yet another set of obstacles that stand between us and our leisure time. Something that has to be addressed, more often than not, out of necessity rather than a willing desire.
Homes get dirty and messy by dint of people living in them. To what degree depends on the numbers of individuals, where they live and how messy or tidy they respectively are. Children and pets compound the matter. The former being akin to a biblical plague of locusts. Therefore, the housework that I and Mrs P face, living in our bungalow is not the same as a family with two or three children and a pet. However, some things are universal. We all have to wash and dry clothes, use the vacuum cleaner, clean work surfaces, mop the bathroom floor, bleach the toilet, empty bins and take out the rubbish. We tend to do general cleaning once a week and then every month do a far more comprehensive clean. Both Mrs P and I have a similar outlook regarding these things so tend to work well as a team, when tackling such tasks. We are not messy people and if something isn’t being used it gets put away.
I am a big fan of labour saving devices that genuinely make life easier. I feel the same way about my dishwasher that Americans do about their “right to bear arms”. For me the notion of hand washing a greasy metal tray that has had a leg of lamb roasting in it for several hours is hell on earth. Dishwashers do such tasks far more efficiently than I ever could and effortlessly make everything appear shiny and new. Loading and unloading a dishwasher is a far more straightforward task than individually washing items, rinsing them and then drying them. It also doesn’t give you dishpan hands. Mind you there are also a lot of alleged labour saving devices that do nothing of the sort. Perhaps the universal white elephant of kitchen appliances is the sandwich toaster. A great concept for making hot snacks that in reality is a weapons grade delivery platform for third degree burns. The subsequent cleaning of the hot plates after use is a bane.
In recent years there has been a cultural shift that has seen housework and chores become a means of therapy in certain quarters. Cleaning, organising and decluttering are hailed as acts of catharsism and take on a more metaphorical meaning. If that works for you, so be it. Reality television has certainly discovered that there is a rich vein of material to be mined with regard to people who have unkempt homes or a penchant for hoarding things. As for me and Mrs P, we consider housework to be nothing more than a functional act and we don’t think that we live in a dung heap that merits scrutiny by TV celebrities. So in the meantime, we soldier on doing the various chores in our own way. However, age and health are an increasing factor and so ironing, for example, is now being relegated to only essential items. I wouldn’t be surprised if we end up hiring cleaners at some point. We already pay for a gardener.
