{"id":133,"date":"2009-08-24T09:30:40","date_gmt":"2009-08-24T09:30:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/everydayethics\/2009\/08\/enjoying-chores-is-possible-who-knew.html"},"modified":"2009-08-24T09:30:40","modified_gmt":"2009-08-24T09:30:40","slug":"enjoying-chores-is-possible-who-knew","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayethics\/2009\/08\/enjoying-chores-is-possible-who-knew.html","title":{"rendered":"Enjoying Chores *Is* Possible. Who Knew?"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n\"chores-main_Full.jpg\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

The other night I was driving home with my husband from the
\ncottage owned by my extended family. <\/span>It was late, and we had a lot of Sunday stuff still to take care of: laundry,
\nfood to plan for the week ahead, etc. <\/span>This was in addition to the two hours of tidying, wrapping up, putting
\naway, battening down and sprucing up we’d just done to leave the country house
\nin good condition behind us.<\/p>\n

In the past, we might have been sullen and pissy; the ratio
\nof clean-up to relaxation time on Sundays always seems unfairly weighted on the
\nclean-up side. Maybe it was just the ultra-peaceful weekend we had this time,
\nbut I suddenly looked over at my husband and I said, “I can’t believe I’m about
\nto say this, but I honestly don’t care how much work that was. I’m just really
\nglad we were able to take care of the house so nicely for the next guests.”<\/p>\n

Even a few years ago this would have been like Swahili
\ncoming out of my mouth. As a teen (and, I will shamefacedly admit, well into my
\ntwenties), I hated the bother of being conscientious. Responsibility was – what
\nelse? – a chore; one I took on as a necessity but never a point of pride. <\/span>As a guest, I cleaned up after myself
\nso I wouldn’t get yelled at or asked not to come back, but only reluctantly.
\nInwardly, <\/span>I was always gribbly or
\nresentful.<\/p>\n

I don’t know what changed – a factor of adulthood, perhaps,
\nbut I just suddenly enjoyed<\/i> feeling I
\ncould be counted on to be a good guest, a reliable child, a responsible adult.
\nThe pride I felt at knowing I was making things nice for others was plenty
\nsufficient to outweigh any momentary annoyance at spending so much of my Sunday
\nswabbing the decks. I’d worked with a good will and a good intention, and that
\nattitude made all the difference.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
poll by twiigs.com<\/a> <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Subscribe to receive updates from Everyday Ethics or follow us on Twitter<\/a>!<\/strong> <\/p>\n


<\/i><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n

Photo credit: <\/i><\/span>childrenshome.us<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The other night I was driving home with my husband from the cottage owned by my extended family. It was late, and we had a lot of Sunday stuff still to take care of: laundry, food to plan for the week ahead, etc. This was in addition to the two hours of tidying, wrapping up, putting away,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-by-hillary-fields"],"yoast_head":"\nEnjoying Chores *Is* Possible. Who Knew? - Everyday Ethics<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayethics\/2009\/08\/enjoying-chores-is-possible-who-knew.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Enjoying Chores *Is* Possible. Who Knew? - Everyday Ethics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The other night I was driving home with my husband from the cottage owned by my extended family. It was late, and we had a lot of Sunday stuff still to take care of: laundry, food to plan for the week ahead, etc. This was in addition to the two hours of tidying, wrapping up, putting away,…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayethics\/2009\/08\/enjoying-chores-is-possible-who-knew.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Everyday Ethics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-08-24T09:30:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/everydayethics\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2009\/08\/chores-main_Full-thumb-600x596-7257.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"hfields\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Enjoying Chores *Is* Possible. Who Knew? - Everyday Ethics","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayethics\/2009\/08\/enjoying-chores-is-possible-who-knew.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Enjoying Chores *Is* Possible. Who Knew? - Everyday Ethics","og_description":"The other night I was driving home with my husband from the cottage owned by my extended family. It was late, and we had a lot of Sunday stuff still to take care of: laundry, food to plan for the week ahead, etc. This was in addition to the two hours of tidying, wrapping up, putting away,…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayethics\/2009\/08\/enjoying-chores-is-possible-who-knew.html","og_site_name":"Everyday Ethics","article_published_time":"2009-08-24T09:30:40+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/everydayethics\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2009\/08\/chores-main_Full-thumb-600x596-7257.jpg"}],"author":"hfields","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayethics\/2009\/08\/enjoying-chores-is-possible-who-knew.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayethics\/2009\/08\/enjoying-chores-is-possible-who-knew.html","name":"Enjoying Chores *Is* Possible. Who Knew? - Everyday Ethics","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayethics\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayethics\/2009\/08\/enjoying-chores-is-possible-who-knew.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayethics\/2009\/08\/enjoying-chores-is-possible-who-knew.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/everydayethics\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2009\/08\/chores-main_Full-thumb-600x596-7257.jpg","datePublished":"2009-08-24T09:30:40+00:00","dateModified":"2009-08-24T09:30:40+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayethics\/#\/schema\/person\/0c57c1fc9d645425d6205fa4f058146f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayethics\/2009\/08\/enjoying-chores-is-possible-who-knew.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayethics\/2009\/08\/enjoying-chores-is-possible-who-knew.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayethics\/2009\/08\/enjoying-chores-is-possible-who-knew.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/everydayethics\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2009\/08\/chores-main_Full-thumb-600x596-7257.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/everydayethics\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2009\/08\/chores-main_Full-thumb-600x596-7257.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayethics\/2009\/08\/enjoying-chores-is-possible-who-knew.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayethics"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Enjoying Chores *Is* Possible. Who Knew?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayethics\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayethics\/","name":"Everyday Ethics","description":"Moral Ethics Blog","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayethics\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayethics\/#\/schema\/person\/0c57c1fc9d645425d6205fa4f058146f","name":"hfields","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayethics\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayethics\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/77b\/77bd98aa35acd21a3a7a209185ad8b6cx96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayethics\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/77b\/77bd98aa35acd21a3a7a209185ad8b6cx96.jpg","caption":"hfields"},"description":"Hillary Fields is a born-and-bred New Yorker, brought up on the not-so-mean streets of Manhattan's Upper East Side. She attended St. John's College in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she studied classics and philosophy, and then respectfully declined to spend the rest of her life in an ivory tower. Instead, she turned to the life of a writer and editor, penning three romance novels published by St. Martin's Press and contributing features to such periodicals as Cosmopolitan magazine. Her fascination with the moral dilemmas that crop up in everyday life--and the many intriguing ways people handle them--has always colored her writings. Now, that interest is leading her to take the discussion online; where, hopefully, the addition of reader feedback will bring these quotidian quandaries--and their potential solutions--vibrantly to life. When she's not plumbing the ethical mysteries of humanity, her passions include cooking (especially baking), origami, kittens, reading, watching really bad television and playing online scrabble. (And no, she doesn't cheat... much.)","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayethics\/author\/hfields"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/197"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}