“You don’t need to remind me every 6 months.” is D’s standard response to little ‘jobs’ around the house.
D and I have been accumulating a long list of minor household tasks; things that need fixing, mending, assembling, painting, finishing, or that need the leaking, squeaking and rattling stopped. The kind of non-urgent activities, that can always wait until another day, when there is nothing more pressing to get done. Some people call this a ‘honey-do’ list, which sounds kind of sexist, and I like to think that household chores can be shared. Problem is, even when shared, our list seems to be getting longer and longer, and we never find the time to get around to doing any of them. Knowing that this quarantine time was coming up, has only made our list longer. Here we are, just 3 days in, and I have started to wonder if two weeks will be long enough to get everything done.
Today, D decides, is the day to complete one of these jobs, to hang his boxing punch bag on a bracket outside. This 4’ high bag has been sitting in our hallway, waiting for the elusive day to arrive when it will be hung, for almost 2 years now. It takes D just 2 minutes to hang it. Immediately after, he starts a boxing session. D loves boxing. It is one of those super-productive sports, that gets the heart pumping fast, and lets him pretend he is Rocky Balboa. He persuades me into taking turns, and we do 3-minute rounds on the bag. We are having fun, punching, kicking, laughing at my epic fails. D is in his element. So, is it therefore fair to wonder, why did it take so long for us to hang the bag?
Procrastinating, it seems, is a common issue in most households. How long is your ‘Honey-do” list? We all have busy lives, and people pulling us in a zillion directions all week long. So, at weekends, it feels reasonable to sit back, relax, and not give our chores a second thought. Until, of course, the list resembles War and Peace, and one of us gets frustrated with the “Honey-didn’t-do” situation.
Most household repairs don’t take a lot of time. Sometimes it takes mere seconds to go to the toolbox and grab a screwdriver to repair a loose screw, or rummage in a cabinet to get and replace a burned-out lightbulb. Which reminds me I must replace the two bulbs upstairs in the recessed lighting fixtures. Because who knows if I will have another opportunity in 6 months.
