Talk

He should do the cooking/cleaning on the five days he doesn't work and you the other two. It's only fair the person not working does the days tasks. I don't subscribe to the "home with children not for housework" theory as all adults have to do these tasks.

This sounds massively unfair to you. He could spend three of the days while you are at work, cleaning, and still have the same number of days "off" as you.

The usual equation is to look at free time - if he's providing childcare 5 days out of 7 and working out of the house the other two, and you vice versa, does either of you have any free time?!

I would have said, as a ball park, you should do 50/50, since you're both monstrously busy. But whether that's both doing all the jobs once the DC are in bed, or doing your half during your "at home" days as you choose.

What 50% each of you does is a very personal thing. Certainly you should each do the jobs you are more fond of or more good at, then divvy out the rest.

Free time is in the evening, once DC are in bed. I completely agree that he should not do everything purely on the premise he is home more than I am, but I suppose I feel like I end up with the shit tasks .

Write a list of everything that needs doing and then sit down with him and share it out fairly.

I seem to see a lot of women who somehow think that their blokes should just "see what needs to be done" and do it. Men mostly aren't socialised that way. You need to sit down and discuss household tasks and divvy them up.

I'd recommend, for you guys, that you get him to take on absolutely all the laundry - literally, you don't touch it - and, similarly, that he does all the food shopping. These are things that are much less subjective than, say, the cleaning - there's either clean clothes/food, or there isn't. Whereas, with cleaning, you can get into pointless arguments about whether it "needs" doing.

He is supposed to pick up the washing, but more often than not has not got round to it, so I do it when I get home. I could leave it but if there are no clothes this directly affects me as I need stuff for work. Then I just feel like I'm nagging about it <sigh>.

Yeah, you need to stop doing his jobs. If you don't have clean clothes, do a load of just your stuff (we do our own laundry and I easily generate a load a week of my own), and just ignore yours and the DCs.

He doesn't get round to it because he knows he doesn't have to - if he doesn't do it - you will!

So stop washing his stuff. You need stuff for work? Wash that. Let's see how long it is before he starts 'getting round to it'

And yes, I know that's petty but I bloody HATE 'I didn't get round to it' it's a piss poor excuse for I can't be arsed but I don't have to bother cos I know muggins will just do it.