“Not tonight, love, I’m folding my laundry.” This was on the tip of my tongue the other night, when a friend asked me to the pub. I kid you not. Do you ever feel you have to choose between seeing your friends and getting on top of the housework? Enter the Chore Date.
Our children get playdates; we get to squeeze in a coffee while ticking through in our worried little minds the unfolded laundry, the unmopped floor, the unsewn nametapes waiting for us at home. OK, maybe sewing nametapes is going a bit far (laundry pens people!), but the point is: there’s crochet groups, book groups, quilt-making groups, Zumba groups – so why not a housework group?
Obviously this only applies to fairly close friends: I wouldn’t invite a new acquaintance round to watch me scrub the loo. And it requires a mutual despair at the state of your house, to the point where taking your laundry mountain to a friend’s to fold seems like a sane thing to do.
I have three young children: I am never on top of my housework. I am already at the stage of life where I compare notes with my friends on things like the pros and cons of the various mop-heads on the market, and how best to clear up couscous (answer: leave to dry and then hoover up – otherwise the little devils stick to your brush.)
So why should the twain not meet?
It’s not exactly washing clothes together on the stones of a fast-flowing river, but as far as solidarity goes, a group ironing session would be pretty awesome. We could even have wine!
In case you’re wondering / worrying – I did go to the pub that night. But the spectre of my laundry mountain haunted me all night.
The Romantic Chore Date
Your husband needn’t miss out! What could be more pleasing than an evening spent mutually doing chores? The day we spent clearing out (half of) the garage was the best time we’ve had together in ages. Who knows where a chore date could lead?
Do you manage to make time for everything, or could you do with a chore date?
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Lol, the idea of a chore date made me chuckle! We’ve been out and about quite a lot this week and the unchecked to-do list is always at the back of my mind – need to find some time to catch up!
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I’m in! I’m gonna have a fun time selling this to my other half!
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Good luck with that! I haven’t had any success so far…I do sometimes empty the bin in front of my friends…
I love the idea of getting the grannies over, they love a bit of cleaning haha if only! My hubby and I did actually use one of our rare child free days last year to thoroughly clean and sort out the house… We vowed that we would NEVER do it again. It’s much more enjoyable to sit in a beer garden eating and drinking 🙂
Have a lovely weekend hon xx
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I never have time to do anything because when I start thinking about chores I need to do I start looking at FB, Twitter, read my e-mails and forget about the housework until I can’t see the sink anymore haha xx
Now there’s an idea! It would certainly give us all more time to socialise. I wonder if any of my friends like changing beds?!
I LOVE this! I often do chores when my mum comes to visit. Having someone to gossip with while I fold laundry makes it so much more interesting. I haven’t thought about extending it to friends as well. I’m so up for an ironing party!
Yay! You’re always welcome at mine – I’ll provide the starch spray! 😉
I’ve just been moaning (to myself) that husband does no housework so maybe this our answer …! Funny as ever, Jess!
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Ha ha chore date. I like to think that I am WELL TOO COOL for all this housework crap but in reality I spend about 65% of my day doing chores. And I like buying a new worktop spray when the old one has finished. I also appreciated the use of a good vacuum cleaner. Maybe I should do chore dates after all ha ha 🙂 xxx
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Ooh I love buying a new worktop spray. We’ll have to compare notes 😉 x
Neither of us enjoys housework so we made the decision to ‘outsource’ (i.e. get a cleaner) pre-kids and haven’t looked back since. It’s not much – just a couple of hours a week, but it’s enough to keep the worst of it at bay. The rest is done grudgingly, although for some reason I do find ironing therapeutic. We might have to try a chore date, though – I suspect it might be coupled with the incentive of getting a takeaway in afterwards …
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Haha brilliant, I love this idea! I have totally neglected my friends since having two kids, two dogs, a cat and four jobs (working from home so I get to look after the kids as well). Not sure I’m close enough to anybody anymore to invite them round to watch me tidy up, but if ever I do get invited out socially perhaps I’ll suggest this instead…
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I really think it could be the next Zumba!
I’m sure it’s the next Zumba!
I knew of someone who did this with her sister – they both spent time at the other’s house cleaning with them once a week. I would MUCH rather clean someone else’s house than my own – because you leave and feel like you actually accomplished something (i.e: you don’t see their kids destroy it immediately like you do your own house.)
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That’s a great point! Also you can tidy stuff up without being emotional or high-level, thinking, where would that best be placed etc. Shame my sis lives a little too far away to do that.