Housework Is Bad For Your Health

You come home at the end of the day and the last thing you want to do is housework. In fact, there’s a laundry list of things you’d rather do, but you sacrifice your leisure time so your husband can have down time.

Not only do you forfeit your winding down time, you sacrifice your health, according to a new study, published by the Journal of Family Psychology. The crux of the study is that getting bogged down in chores after work affects the cortisol levels in your body making you vulnerable to mental and physical illness.

In other words, while you should be chillin’ out after a long day’s work (two incomes are the norm these days to keep economically afloat), you’re essentially just clocking in at your other job.

The reality is that someone has to do it. If not you, it’s going to be your husband. Ultimately, it all comes down to one of those classic lose-win situations. It’s best for you if your husband pitches it to get the work done. This way you can both maximize your time to relax. What’s best for your husband, however, is that you do it all. It’s either your cortisol levels or his — you choose.

It does seem that many women are choosing to suck it up and get ‘er done. It’s unfortunate that it’s work that most of the time goes unnoticed and is underappreciated, but it has to be done, especially since one person’s sacrifice is another person’s (and presumably an entire family’s) happiness. Women are “still picking up the load” for the greater good of the relationship and family at large.

If you believe in compromise, no doubt that you’ve already thought of one in this scenario. I don’t think women are looking to be martyrs or anything — been there and done that, thanks Joan of Arc. Why not just alternate the household duties? If women are stressing themselves out during the week, to the detriment of their health, maybe men can take the lion’s share of the duties on the weekend and give their wives a break.

One is fresh for the week and one for the weekend. Sound like a good balance? I think so.

Contact the author here: tinybart@morningquickie.com