Household chores can teach important life skills
If we run a survey of the two most-talked topics of 2020, without much doubt Covid-19 and lockdowns will be among the tops.
The spread of Covid-19 put the whole world in such a rare state that at around 95 per cent of the world's countries were in lockdown in between the time frame of the last couple of months till date.
Although the situation is changing and some of the countries are getting better and some are newly being affected, the experience of the lockdown period is more or less the same across the countries.
It has given us some unique experiences and made us realise the importance and impact of the small household initiatives which we often tend to ignore in our regular hectic days.
In the past four months our day-to-day lifestyles have changed. Getting up early in the morning for the 9 to 5 office, stuck in the traffic, shopping in super malls, having food in the restaurants, getting work done by the home maids are the pictures of the happy memories.
But closing all these things up and locking us behind four walls is now proving as a game changer.
This unique situation is making us realise the importance of the contributions of our mother/wife who normally prepare breakfast for us or take for granted the lunch we used to take with us in the office or on returning from office finding a clean fresh house.
We who work at offices are now realising the importance and the impact of those little initiatives.
Moreover, we are contributing to our family's day-to-day work in order to keep ourselves safe from the infectious disease.
Now we are doing all these works by ourselves and creating new bonds within the families.
Now in this crisis where we are forced to do office work from home and avoid unnecessary outings, making us spend more time with our parents and kids.
By staying home we discover that it is allowing us 15-20 per cent more time to spend with our family and contribute in our household works and include our new generation, meaning kids, to contribute in the household work from the beginning.
Whether we like it or not, household chores are a necessary part of everyday life, ensuring that our homes continue to run efficiently, and that our living environments remain organised and clean, thereby promoting good overall health and safety.
Household chores are often avoided or done unwillingly but many of us don't know that there are unexpected scientific health and other benefits.
Once we realise how these simple tasks can boost our happiness, lower our stress, or protect our body from diseases, and prevent additional expenses, our to-do list will never look the same again.
First of all, passed down from generations, women of the house are often silently assigned the roles for housework.
But do we know that families or couples who share the chores tend to be happier, as it increases unity, support, and trust? By sharing the workload, we'll get the job done quicker too!
Secondly, some of the scientifically proven health benefits from household chores are that those who take their time to wash the dishes tend to be calm, relaxed and have reduced anxiety.
Cleaning the bathroom is in a way a form of exercise resulting from scrubbing, wiping and washing and the additional health benefit is the achievement of a healthier immune system because you're cleaning away bacteria, mold and disease.
Gardening lovers are noticed to have a reduction in depression when they spend periods of time taking care of their garden.
Studies have shown that those who make their beds before starting their day have a higher productivity level compared to those who do not. Cooking, known to many as therapy for being able to help with lifting up spirits and de-stressing, is actually beneficial to our health.
Thirdly, involving children in household chores gives them an opportunity to become active participants in the house. Kids begin to see themselves as important contributors to the family.
Holding children accountable for their chores can increase a sense of responsibility and actually makes them more responsible.
When a kid observes that their parents are doing their works and helping each other, it will create a deep interest in their mind and involving children in household works will help them build their sense of responsibility.
Fourthly, over a long period of time easily we can save a lot while doing our activities by ourselves instead of depending on external support from others. In these tight economic times, everyone is looking for ways to cut back. Cutting back may mean eliminating a few services that we are paying instead of doing by ourselves.
We could free up at least Tk 2,000 to Tk 3,000 or more monthly by taking a more active role and support our family members.
Eliminating expenses that we pay on a monthly basis will usually result in a larger savings over the long term, rather than focusing on the little luxuries in life that we spend money on sporadically.
Fifthly, when fathers play an active and equal role in the household and are a positive presence, it relieves the burden of care on mothers and is associated with a household where violence is less likely to take place.
Research from Norway has found that the incidence of violence against women or children in equitable homes is three times lower than households where fathers dominate.
In a larger perspective, it definitely will have a positive impact in the reduction of violence towards women in our society.
We, who work outside should train our children to be responsible adults, who would feel proud for doing chores at home, instead of feeling shy or uncomfortable.
Thus, new the generation can smash narrow gender stereotypes by bringing equality in the division of housework. Such changes are no doubt necessary. The Covid-19 and lockdown terms were like a curse to us but it really is showing us the new lights and bringing changes in our society which we must adhere to in order to live a better life in a much more socially developed society in the post-pandemic era.
The author is the head of supply chain and procurement at bKash Limited
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