Chores are a sore subject at home even at the best of times. But during the pandemic… well, it can be a real source of tension when you’re seemingly doing everything all by yourself. From working from home while helping the kids study via Zoom and then tidying up the entire home while making dinner. It’s exhausting.
So it’s no wonder that some moms have had enough. One of them is Twitter user Miss Potkin who conducted a fun little experiment at home. She decided that enough is enough and stopped doing chores, hoping to see how long it would be before someone picked up the slack.
It’s fun, it’s educational, and we’d love to get David Attenborough to narrate the entire story below. Have a look, dear Pandas, and be sure to let us know if you plan to do anything similar at your home. Oh, and we’d love to hear which chores you hate and love to do the most (I adore doing the dishes but loathe vacuuming myself).
A mom documented how her family reacted after she secretly stopped doing all of the chores at home
Image credits: MissPotkin
Her tweets are absolutely hilarious and read like a mini-documentary
Image credits: MissPotkin
Her family have resorted to using whatever clean utensils are around
Image credits: MissPotkin
Progress, however, was inevitable sooner or later
Image credits: MissPotkin
However, there are plenty of other areas where everyone could stand to pitch in a bit more
Image credits: MissPotkin
Image credits: MissPotkin
Image credits: MissPotkin
Image credits: MissPotkin
We feel you, Miss Potkin. Empty containers make us anxious, too
Image credits: MissPotkin
Image credits: MissPotkin
Image credits: MissPotkin
Image credits: MissPotkin
Image credits: MissPotkin
Unwashed plates being left behind everywhere is a pet peeve of ours, as well as the Twitter user's
Image credits: MissPotkin
Image credits: MissPotkin
It's taken a while, but it looks like Miss Potkin's family members have gotten the clue
Image credits: MissPotkin
Image credits: MissPotkin
Image credits: MissPotkin
Image credits: MissPotkin
Image credits: MissPotkin
Image credits: MissPotkin
There's even been some progress in the toilet paper department at home
Image credits: MissPotkin
Image credits: MissPotkin
Image credits: MissPotkin
Image credits: MissPotkin
Image credits: MissPotkin
Image credits: MissPotkin
Image credits: MissPotkin
Image credits: MissPotkin
Image credits: MissPotkin
The changes at home have been magnificent. It just took a bit of time
Image credits: MissPotkin
Image credits: MissPotkin
Image credits: MissPotkin
Hurray! A wholesome ending to the story!
Image credits: MissPotkin
Bored Panda spoke about how to stop arguments over chores from spinning out of control with relationship expert Dan Bacon, the founder of The Modern Man. Dan was upfront that we all need to adjust to the unique situation (i.e. the Covid-19 pandemic that’s been going on for over a year) we’re in.
Dan approached the topic by pointing out that some guys believe it’s ‘unmanly’ to do chores. However, he put their worries at rest. “If a man isn’t normally at home during the day and his girlfriend or wife does most of the cleaning and chores, but he is now working from home all day and is at home all weekend, it’s not unmanly for him to help out here and there around the house.”
The relationship expert even opened up about his own living situation. “Personally speaking, I work full-time hours from home every day and my wife does the cooking, cleaning, and takes care of our twin baby girls. Yet, due to the fact that we can’t go out on weekends or catch up with friends during the week due to the Covid-19 lockdown, we are housebound the entire week.”
He continued: “This means I have a lot more spare time on weekends than usual. As a result, I have done some of the chores when I’ve felt that I had some additional spare time (e.g. occasionally cleaning up the kitchen and lounge room) as well as doing my normal chores of taking out the garbage and feeding our cats.”
In Dan’s particular situation, his wife never had to ask him to do the extra chores. He’s been chipping in on his own accord because “it doesn’t feel right to be spending all my extra time watching TV, playing video games, or talking to friends on the phone while she works all weekend.”
The relationship expert said that couples need to adapt to the pandemic and do their best to solve any chore-related issues in a friendly way instead of attacking or blaming one another for not doing enough.
“If you get into the habit of coming from a place of attacking the other person, the relationship and the love that binds you together will weaken over time,” he said. “Eventually, after many months or years of unhappiness and built-up resentment, the slightest thing can set off a huge argument that leads to a break-up.”
Here's how some people reacted to the mom's thread on Twitter. Not everyone enjoyed the social experiment
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Meanwhile, in an earlier interview with Bored Panda, Eddy Ng, the James and Elizabeth Freeman Professor of Management at Bucknell University, told us how the pandemic has unfairly affected working women.
“Women, even those in professional and managerial jobs, continue to take on a second shift (caring for family) after the first shift at the office. We continue to subscribe to gender roles, even in many egalitarian societies,” he explained.
Professor Ng said that this explains the “persistent pay gap and an underrepresentation of women in senior management and higher-paying jobs.” He added that during the lockdowns, men’s higher-paying careers have been prioritized over women’s which are seen as “supplemental income” even in Western countries.
“Women reorganize their work around family demands, men often do not. Unequal division of labor is exacerbated when a family could no longer access paid help (COVID restrictions), and women will have to pick up the slack.”