Testing our responsibilities

We will not be traveling this weekend. There are no field hockey games. There are no parties.

The family will be sorely tested, including me.

We need to put away all the Halloween decorations, do another round of leaf pickup, clean up the RV and decide on winterizing it or not, and clean the bedrooms. If there is time, we need to clean up the small shed (for bikes and outdoor toys) and clean out the garage.

Do we have the energy? Will the kids' homework take huge amounts of time? Will last minute invites to an event get in the way? Will they talk me into going to a movie? (I haven't been in a month or two. I'm normally good for about two per month.)

Will I keep my cool? Will I be tactful? I tried that last weekend and failed miserably. Why is it so difficult to be tactful with family? Looking at it from an outsiders' perspective, I'd say we were pretty rough on each other.

We're not the most organized family. Jocelyn takes care of stuff around the house until I sense that she's gonna blow a gasket, then I do a few things to ease the pressure. If things start to bother me, then I do things like sweep, mop, dust, etc. So, I'm fairly certain that Jocelyn and I can tackle our share of the workload.

But I'm not so sure about Monica and Gabe. They treat school like it is a job. So, they feel that after homework is completed, they've earned their downtime. I think we haven't given much effort into instilling a sense of responsibility for the common aspects of sharing a home. This weekend will be a real test.

I get the added bonus of quality attic time when we put away the Halloween decoration containers. While I am up there I can look over the green and red plastic Christmas bins, just waiting for Thanksgiving weekend, when I get to bring them downstairs for the next major decorating effort.

Anyone else having issues getting everyone to pitch in to keep the house maintained? Or does the responsibility fall on one or two people? (Now, I know some of you live alone and you do all the work yourself, but then you were the only person making any messes, right?)

Why do I dread this? Think how happy I will be when the house feels open and clean...we will be happier. We will. We must.