Reframing Chores:
What does the Word Chore mean to You?
What do you think of when you hear the word “Chore”?
For me, “Chore” or “Chores” means Work. Work that has to be done in order to live a fairly normal, clean, and organized life. The thought of doing “Chores,” conjures up a feeling of drudgery, a feeling of “I want to do something fun instead of that list of Chores.” Of course, there are those who will say; “Yes, you have chores and you need to be glad you do, it means you have a roof over your head,” and this is absolutely true… I am grateful I have a roof over my head, however, taking care of it does not have to be chore-based.
What I hear quite a bit from my clients and friends is:
“It’s been a busy week at work… or there has been a lot of stress this week,” but I have so many “Chores” to do,
I have to spend the weekend getting caught up with my “Chores” instead of going camping, or going out with my friends, and heaven forbid spend a day shopping and having lunch out with a friend”
Have you said any of these or something similar?
From the age of 6 until I left home at 18, I had a list of “Chores” …. Ugh…. My chores consisted of cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, ironing, (yes, back when I was a kid, we ironed once a week all iron-able clothing), and watching my siblings.
We had our daily chores, our weekend chores, our monthly chores, and finally, our seasonal chores.
Little did I know that when I got married, not only did my chores increase but so did the responsibility of making that Chore list. I was already trained in doing all household chores and a few yard chores, so it wasn’t a big leap. However, I did notice that while I had “Chores, ” my husband had a “Honey-Do List.”
What!!!!!!
I asked my husband why he got to have a “Honey-Do List,” and I had a “Chore List” to which he replied, with humor, that since he was considered The Honey, it meant that if Honey did not want to do what was on his list, he did not have to… or at the very least he could perform the items on his Honey-Do list as he wanted to ….. While we had a laugh about his description of a “Honey-Do List,” he quickly added that he would gladly help me with my “Chore List” if I was overwhelmed at all. So, I immediately handed him my list and said “Thank you, Honey, then I picked up a book and sat down in my favorite chair. All he said was “Really?” LOL
The subject came up recently about everyone in our home having chores that they are expected to do. The word “Chore” kept coming into my thought processes, so once again, I decided to research the word and its precise meaning. And sure enough, according to several dictionaries, the word “Chore” means exactly what I felt it meant — “Work, Unpleasant tasks, Disagreeable task.” (see below a couple of the definitions)
Definitions of Chore
Dictionary.com
a small or odd job; routine task.
chores, the everyday work around a house or farm.
a hard or unpleasant task:
Solving the problem was quite a chore.
Merriam-Webster
chores plural : the regular or daily light work of a household or farm
a routine task or job
The children were each assigned household chores.
a difficult or disagreeable task
doing taxes can be a real chore
Choose the Right Synonym for chore
TASK, DUTY, JOB, CHORE, STINT, ASSIGNMENT mean a piece of work to be done. TASK implies work imposed by a person in authority or an employer or by circumstance. Charged with a variety of tasks
Cambridge Dictionary
a job or piece of work that is often boring or unpleasant but needs to be done regularly:
I’ll go shopping when I’ve done my chores (= done the jobs in or around the house).
I find writing reports a real chore (= very boring).
His work is a chore to be suffered and is hard to come to terms with.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
This is why I have decided to change the word “Chore” for my list of things I need to do to keep a tidy, clean, and welcoming atmosphere at my home. Does it really make a difference? Probably not for many, but to me, at my stage in life, I want to have more fun therefore, my “Chore List” needs to become more positive and fun. I play music, dance with my vacuum cleaner and mop, toss my clothes into the washer like I am making baskets and “Rumba” my way around making the bed.
I was thinking all “Chore” lists should just be called “Honey-Do” projects. Or “Home Projects,” I always feel accomplished when I say I have completed many “Projects”. LOL
Giving household responsibilities (mostly known as “Chores”), to children does teach them to be responsible for living within a family society and to know how to survive fairly well on their own. Therefore, I do support everyone in the family having their own “Home Projects” they are responsible for.
In our household we all pitch in, everyone cleans and vacuums their own bedrooms, we each put our dishes into the dishwasher or wash them, dry them, and puts them away, we take turns vacuuming the bigger areas and bathrooms. Weekends are free for play. For the bigger “Projects” we turn up the music and all help. We live a “One for all and All for One” lifestyle. It works for us and provides us the freedom to do the things we really love doing.
More Reading on Chores
In my research, I came across a couple of Household “Chore Lists” that may be very helpful. Whether you rename your lists of responsibilities or not, it all works out to a positive ending if everyone chips in and helps, freeing up the weekends for play, for the whole family.
The Ultimate household chore list.
All of the Household Chores You Should Be Doing Every Day : Home maintenance needs a plan of action to create a peaceful and relaxing atmosphere. Use this list of daily household chores to develop your game plan.
Check out these age-appropriate chore lists from The Spruce for ideas for every age in your house.
So, my friends, whatever you call your list of “things that need to get done” make it fun. We only get one chance to make this trip through life meaningful and I, for one, do not want to realize in the end that I spent more life minutes doing “Chores,” than living life.
Hugs