April 7, 2015 is No Housework Day!
Why only one day a year?
No Housework Day on 7 April! Yes, you heard me.
That means no washing, scrubbing, scouring, dusting or polishing. Lock the broom cupboard and dismantle the vacuum cleaner. Drop your clothes and towels on the bathroom floor, ignore the sinks, basins, toilets and tubs - no housework today!
This also means stay out of the kitchen. No shopping, planning, food preparation or hanging over the stove. Celebrate International No Housework Day!
Why is Housework so horrible?
Too many reasons to count
Anyone would rather lie on a sofa than sweep beneath it, but the fact remains that the housework has to be done.
If I could afford a housekeeper and a maid I'd be content with my life. So would you, I'm sure.
Do you feel like Sisyphus, cursed to roll a rock up a hill all day only to start again in the morning? Housework is like that, and the primary reason I loathe it. It doesn't matter how much work you do, it just gets dirty again. The only way I handle this is with organisation.
Get the Kids to do the Housework
Prepare for No Housework Day
It's truly amazing how quickly kids learn to operate the DVD, yet are unable to understand the basics of the vacuum cleaner.
Some of you may have well trained children who complete their set household tasks but how about your partner?
Let's not enter that minefield for the moment ... Let's concentrate on preparing the family for No Housework Day.
A List for everyone else - Leave it on the fridge
Make a list of the usual work that needs to be done on that day.
With that list, the others living in your house have a clear set of directions to follow. Just the ordinary day-to-day housework although you could include cleaning the stove or defrosting the fridge if you feel like it.
Leave the list and leave the house for the day. Go and see a movie or spend some hours window shopping.
Don't clean glasses either
- In the morning : Bedding changed and sheets, PJs, dirty laundry put in the machine. Make the beds. Breakfast dishes washed, benches cleaned and kitchen floor swept. Hang out the washing.
- In the middle of the day :. Dust and vacuum living areas. Mop the kitchen floor
- In the early afternoon : Clean bath, basin, toilet. Wash floors of these areas. :
- In the late afternoon : List one of your weekly chores such as windows washed or porch cleaned. Bring in the washing, fold and put away. Start preparing dinner.
- In the evening : Cook the evening meal. Serve. Clean up kitchen. Scrub pots. Mop the kitchen floor.
When you dread the unexpected knock on the door - You've got the Housework Blues
Housework Blues: A Survival Guide- How to Cope with the Mental and Emotional Challenge of Keeping a Home
This isn't a book of tips and tricks to clean your home, but about an attitude change. It made me realise that the reason I clean the house is to feel less stressed in my surroundings.
It's a wake-up call to the psyche - and it works!
The Housewife Blues is the Housework Blues - I've got 'em!
Strangely enough, No Housework Day is also National Beer Day, but don't read too much into that.
What others say about No Housework Day
- No Housework Day
The average American woman scrubs her house at least 17 hours a week - Celebrate No Housework Day
Many poor souls don't even know that they don't have to do any housework on 7 April.
What do you think about No Housework Day?
Will you be celebrating No Housework Day?
Forget your Schedule on 7 April
The Ultimate Clean House Schedule
Cleaning the house is a daunting task. I don't care how many 'labour-saving devices' you have around the home, they don't really save much in the way of your labour at all.
© 2012 Susanna Duffy
