Doing household chores while keeping peace in the home

An April study from the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research released a finding that men are doing more housework. The study concluded the following: 

• 1976: men averaged 6 hours of housework while women averaged 26 hours; and
• 2005: men averaged 13 hours per week while women averaged 17 hours.

The data for the study was based on economic, health and data from 8,000 families since 1968. At least one expert believes an even distribution of household chores can lead to more intimacy between couples.

"When a man does housework, it feels to the woman like an expression of caring and concern, which then physically reduces her stress," says Joshua Coleman, author of "The Lazy Husband: How to Get Men to Do More Parenting and Housework." Coleman also says “A guy can be completely stressed out and want to have sex to burn it off, but women are not wired like that," Coleman also said women need to feel relaxed in order to feel sexy -- and it's hard to unwind when there are chores to be done and a husband who's oblivious to them. 

Housework can often be left undone because we are just too busy with living life. Longer work hours, traffic, and family obligations have taken precedence over household chores. The ending result is a messy house and a frustrated couple. Housework isn’t something anyone enjoys, but it’s inconsiderate and unrealistic to expect one partner to do it all. Here is a simple solution to bring back romance while getting a cleaner house... delegate household chores to each family member. For example, one person can vacuum, dust, and do dishes while someone else maintains the yard and takes out the trash. Even the youngest member of the family can empty a wastebasket! If nothing else, put it in writing and stick it on the refrigerator.