A card from Fair Play by Eve Rodsky
Laundry
If you haven’t ever CPE’d this card, would you like to take a guess at how many loads of laundry your family generates weekly? A freakin’ lot, that’s my guess. If you never go a day without clean socks and your daughter can always find her favorite rainbow shirt, then be sure to thank this cardholder, who not only throws the load in the washer and dryer but also folds it and puts it all away. If laundry tends to pile up and multiply in your home, it’s time to re-deal this card and come up with a new standard before the next cycle begins.
Holding this card means owning all three
Conception
Laundry needs to be done, clothes need to be cleaned
Planning
- Sorting clothes
- Reviewing clothing instructions (colors/whites/delicates)
Execution
- Spraying stains pre-wash
- Washing/drying
- Ironing/steaming
- Hanging, folding, putting away
Suggested Minimum Standard of Care
Are there laundered clothes when you need them where you need them in their place in the respective closets? (i.e not all over the floor or wrinkled in the dryer)
A starting point. You and your partner agree the real standard together, and the holder meets it without reminders.
Holding it well
- It’s a Daily Grind: relentless and time-bound. Make sure each of you holds a fair share of these, ideally one from each suit.
- The holder owns all of it: noticing, planning and doing. No “just tell me what to do.”
- Agree the Minimum Standard of Care together, then let the holder meet it their way.
- Not working? Bring it to the weekly check-in and re-deal it. Don’t take it back mid-week.
Put this card on your table
Deal it, agree its standard, and see who holds what. Free.