Had a chat with my roommate's mom that flipped my view on chore charts

My roommate Laura's mom came by to drop off a casserole last week and saw our chore chart on the fridge. She laughed and said stuff like that just breeds resentment because it turns grown adults into kids who need gold stars. At first I got defensive because we made that chart after 3 weeks of fighting over dishes and trash. But later I realized she had a point - we spend more time fighting about who wrote their name down wrong than actually cleaning. Now I'm starting to wonder if we should just each take a zone of the apartment instead of rotating tasks. Has anyone else tried ditching the chart system and found something that works better?

3 comments

3 Comments

danielb431mo ago

This whole thing reminds me of how we treat everything like a transaction nowadays. People track steps, calories, hours worked, even social interactions like they're collecting points in a video game. Chore charts just extend that same weird vibe into your own home where you live with people you supposedly like. Zones make more sense because you own your space and it stops being about whose turn it is to scrub the toilet. The chart system works for kids because they need to learn responsibility but adults should be past needing a star chart to do basic stuff.

clairem471mo ago

Everything's gamified now. Even existing in your own house.

hugo_bennett13d ago

Spent twenty minutes last week trying to "gamify" loading the dishwasher with my partner. Made a spreadsheet with points for scraping plates, stacking bowls just right, and bonus points for fitting the big cutting board in. Got to day three and realized we'd forgotten to actually look at the scores. The dishwasher was clean but we had no idea who "won" the week. Ended up just going back to the old system where the person who cooked dinner doesn't have to wash up. Less data, more peace.