Newlywed Couple Chore Chart

So, I know I am not the easiest person to live with... just ask my roommate's from college. But I never imagined my husband would be as difficult, if not more.

I like things done a certain way. For instance;
When you vacuum, you need to make straight lines in the carpet, otherwise you've waisted your time. When you fold towels you should fold them in thirds, and then in thirds again so they store in your linen closet nicer (plus this is how you hang them on your towel racks) Closets should be organized by color and then sleeves, and shoes should be in pairs and organized. All condiments should be front faced like a grocery store, and never fight the urge to label where something goes!

Clint has his own preferences;
He must sleep on the left side of the bed. When you use the shower you have to make sure you turn off the shower then the water, to prevent the next person turning on the water from getting an unexpected shower. All vitamins and meds should be stored in the kitchen near the glasses and water so you can take them in the morning. You must keep a "reserve" pile of work clothes, just in case. The check book register needs to be filled out daily, and all receipts and debits must be accounted for daily (YOU CAN NOT RELY ON ONLINE BANKING EVER!

We have also learned a couple things about one another that drives the other crazy, a few examples so that you understand our state of frustration before getting into the main reason for this post which is our newly implemented coupes chore chart....

1. Clint showers 2x a day, when he first wakes up, and as soon as he is home from work. He always without fail, throws his wet towel on the bed, and leave it.
2. When I shower (and I do not do this as soon as I wake up, it takes me a bit, which drives him crazy) I wash my hair and always get some strands of hair that fall out of my head. I then take the hair in a circular motion on the shower wall, and create what Clint calls a Wookie. I might or might not forget about it, and leave it on the wall.

So, needless to say our first couple months of marriage have been a learning experience. One thing we definitely could not see eye to eye on where Chores! And apparently this is a problem for a lot of newlyweds. Thank goodness, because I thought maybe we where just nuts (of course this has still not been ruled out.) I would expect him to do certain things around the house like take out the garbage. and he would expect me to do stuff like laundry and dishes....(Does my husband even know me? j/k!) I guess we never really discussed one anothers expectations for our home. So before pulling my hair out (I would of course make a WOOKIE, just to really get him urked!) I googled couple chore charts.

I was surprised to see that there are many different chore charts to chose from, but when I approached my hubsters with the idea, he laughed. I guess it does kind of sound like I raided the local elementary to solve our marital mishaps, but  I was persistent (one of my greatest qualities). So the next night we went to dinner, and I presented my husband with an adult version of a chore chart....but we will just call it "TASK MASTERING" for that is the title of the document I found at www.thenest.com. P.S. what a great website BTW! Here is the link:
http://ideas.thenest.com/decor-tricks/home-painting-diy/articles/checklist-task-mastering.aspx?MsdVisit=1

So, I printed out 3 copies of the list, and at dinner that night I gave Clint his blank copy to fill out, while I filled out my own.

We compared lists and laughed at how different we saw one anothers roles in our home. After we got a good laugh in, and our waitress asked us what we where doing, we used the 3rd blank copy and divided the chores! I have more of the daily chores and Clint will be keeping up with the weekly chores since he works more hours than I! We decided what days we would be doing the weekly and monthlys and put it in to play.

The results: Today is only day one, so I don't want to be overly ecstatic, but I think we have started a good thing! I woke up this morning, knowing what I had to do. I packed Clint's lunch while he showered, emptied the dishwasher, cut fruit for the week, prepared dinner, bathed MacKenzie our Yorkie, cleaned out Blues fish tank, cleaned the kitchen, organized the fridge. Clint came home to dinner on the table, took out the trash, and cleaned up after we ate! I feel like I got so much more accomplished today because I wasn't overwhelmed with everything that needed to be done. Hopefully we can keep this up, or else I will be leaving WOOKIES in the shower everyday without fail!