Seven Tips For Getting Your Husband To Help With Housework

Since the beginning of time, husbands have been viewed as the hunters and wives as the gatherers. According to statistics, only 15% of husbands today help with housework. Although we may not have fully evolved into an equal partnership when it comes to the home, and while there is still an on-going debate as to how to encourage husbands
to help around the house, here are seven tips for getting your husband to help with housework that may work for you.

Depending upon how your husband was raised, he may or may not know how to handle housework. Therefore, the first thing you can do is teach him.

Every woman cleans their home in their own way. They have a method which guarantees everything is spotless and in its place. For men, however, they hardly notice if the house is clean or not, and so it is important to discuss housework and their role – not as helper, but one who can equally share the responsibility of keeping the house clean and orderly. Discuss housework with him.

More often than not, the husband usually takes out the trash and does “manly” work around the house, such as fixing and building or working in the back yard. If you need your husband to assist you with housework, you will have to compromise a bit by asking what chore he would like to tackle. Is he a good cook? Does he enjoy food shopping? If so, perhaps he can take over the meal preparation while you take care of the house.
Offer a compromise to him.

If both of you work, weekends are a time for rest and relaxation. If one of you works at home or is taking care of children, you may find it even more difficult to get your husband to help with housework. Talk to your husband about taking on one chore at a time, so that you can free up your weekends to spend more time with each other and the children. Discuss a schedule of chores with him.

If you find that your husband will not lift a finger to help you, call in the guards. Hire a cleaning service. Perhaps when he sees the bill week after week, he may decide it’s easier to help rather than pay someone to do it. Discuss the cleaning service with him.

Now ladies, this next tip may be over the top, but in some cases it is needed to cajole your husband to help with the housework. Simply tell him if he doesn’t help, he’ll be spending many lonely nights without your company. Talk about a lack of lovin’ with him.

Finally, if any or all of these tips fail, your last resort is to do nothing. That’s right, engage in a housework strike, and go out one Saturday leaving him to handle the kids and the messy house. You can be assured that at some point he will get the message, and a dialogue will ensue where you can talk about your feelings and his lack of attention.