Are you looking for more ways to spend quality time with your partner? It might sound unusual at first but doing chores together can increase your relationship satisfaction greatly. Check out these simple chores that can keep your house tidy and relationship healthy!
Study suggests that a relationship is likely to be healthier when household responsibilities are shared rather than accomplished alone. Couples develop a deeper sense of connection when they share the same goals which can include running the household.
As relationship therapist Jacqui Manning says, “Sharing tasks means you’re connecting and touching base over small decisions which will help with the big ones down the track.”
Benefits of grocery shopping together
Just as how it is shown in the movies, grocery shopping actually helps boost a couple’s satisfaction with their relationship. You and your partner can bond over simple things like deciding what food and or what household items to buy.
Grocery shopping together provides two important benefits for you and your partner: (1) smooth agreement on what brands to select and what quantities to get; and (2) an opportunity to compensate for what busy and working couples often miss — quality time together.
In a report posted on Council on Contemporary Families (CCF), it was stated that contemporary men find it pleasurable to share grocery shopping with their partners. There is greater relationship satisfaction, the report says.
Why you should wash the dishes together
Washing the dishes is commonly known as a one-person job. However, study shows that couples who do the dishes together improves their relationship quality significantly. It might be one of the most unappealing things to do but it is a way to show up in a relationship. Doing the dishes together means having each other’s back even in simple and trivial things.
In the same report by CCF, it was found that washing the dishes together mattered most for women. Women experience dissatisfaction in the relationship if they shouldered the entire responsibility of dishwashing.
Dishwashing is one of the least popular household chores. The thought of cleaning moldy food, grease, and oil sitting on the sink can be gross. But this chore has been traditionally assigned to women. In this modern age, women who find themselves responsible for the least desirable household chores develop resentment in a relationship.
Teamwork in cooking food together
Cooking food together promises quality time and teamwork in a relationship. It does not matter if only one is capable of cooking. The support system and camaraderie of a couple when cooking can increase relationship satisfaction.
If you and your partner enjoy eating, it might be a great idea to explore cooking together. It might be interesting to see how you both can develop teamwork in the kitchen! You may even enjoy learning new recipes together.
Some of the benefits that you and your partner can have when cooking together are:
- Getting closer to each other
- Understanding each other better
- Quality time together
- Better familiarity with your kitchen
- Being more intentional about the food you eat as a couple
How to start sharing your chores
For some couples, it may not be easy to convince their partner to share chores in the house. This is usually the case for couples with different work schedules. In addition, couples who already have children may also find it difficult to do things together.
If you and your partner can relate to any of the instances mentioned above, you still have a chance to do the important household chores together! But you both will need to schedule these chores intentionally.
Plan and discuss
If you wish to do grocery shopping with your partner, it is important that you both map out each other’s schedule. Identify your common free time that is enough to take a short stroll in the grocery. If you live in a big city or own a condo in Quezon City, you might need to account for the rush hours.
Scheduling intentionally can get challenging as both you and your partner get busier. But think of doing chores together as a way to spend quality time with each other. It will be beneficial to your relationship health and longevity.
If both you and your partner are at home, you can agree to block a 10-20 minute time period to wash the dishes together. If you feel enthusiastic enough, you and your partner can also block the entire lunch period to cook a quick meal, eat, and wash the dishes together. It all depends on how well both of you can allocate time for each other.
Create a system that works best for the both of you
It is totally fine if you and your partner cannot do chores together regularly. Set up a routine. You can calendar tasks one, twice, or thrice a week. It can even be twice or thrice a month. Whatever works best for the both of you, do that. What matters is you get things done while having time to bond with each other.
Show how much you care when you share
Spending time together as a couple by doing household chores together is often underrated. Yet, it is one of the most practical ways to get things done while still keeping in touch with each other.
Washing the dishes and doing grocery shopping together are the two chores that got the most interesting results from the report of CCF in terms of chores that improve relationship quality. But in reality there are various chores in the house that must still be shared. It can be very comforting and meaningful for your partner to know that they don’t have to shoulder all the work. Show how much you care and share the responsibilities with him or her!
Keeping your relationship healthy and long depends on how much quality time you spend understanding your partner.
As Jacqui Manning said, “Time together is connecting, whether that’s on a date or doing chores together. It gives you time to be around each other and to chat about other things going on in your worlds.”
Sources:
Rose, J. (2018, April 6). Sharing Chores Improves Relationships, Especially Doing the Dishes. Retrieved October 25, 2021, from The Daily Meal website: https://www.thedailymeal.com/sharing-chores-relationships-doing-dishes
Skelly, K. (2019, June 19). Sharing these chores will improve your relationship. Retrieved October 25, 2021, from Realestate.com.au website: https://www.realestate.com.au/lifestyle/sharing-chores-will-improve-your-relationship/
Forrest, K. (2020, May 20). How to Split Household Chores with Your Partner, Fair and Square. Retrieved October 25, 2021, from WeddingWire website: https://www.weddingwire.com/wedding-ideas/share-household-chores