As I begin a new day’s list of things that need to be done around the house, I find myself thinking about my late mother and the work she did not only in raising all of us. I think, also, of all of the housework she did each and every day, things that I do most of the time but not necessarily with any kind of routine.

Mom was an unbelievable person, which she needed to be as a mother to 10 of us. Now, that’s not a shot at my father, who is also an unbelievable person, it’s just that this particular blog has to do with the responsibilities that I, being at our house a majority of the time, have and of how many of chores I am currently responsible for are many of the same things that mom did when we were growing up.

Those things include washing dishes, mopping the floors, doing laundry, vacuuming and running an occasional errand. I do these things because I love my family(wife Annette and son Eric) dearly and I know that they truly appreciate not coming home to a gross house when they finish their respective days, she at work and our son at school and rehearsal

Just for fun, I asked a couple of my sisters whether mom gave them any chores growing up. Those who responded say that they usually had chores. My sister Kathy couldn’t emphasize enough to me how much stuff they had to do. “Yes, the GIRLS did the chores!! Ironing school uniforms, doing the dishes, taking out the garbage and making our beds,” said Kath. “We girls even shoveled.”

That was just one of my sisters’ stories about how our mom got them to help out…yet us boys(4 of us in all) never had any kind of housecleaning chore. Still, I do know that we did shovel a bunch. Anyway, a couple more of my sisters responded, simply saying, “Kathy’s description of what we had to do is quite accurate,” Sheila told me just a day or two ago.

Now I probably do about a quarter of the work that mom did but I get just as tired and it probably takes me longer. With two dogs running around wrestling with each other and barking quite often, how could it not take me longer to do household chores? It sounds like I’m whining but, believe me, I’m not. I know that Annette truly appreciates it and it’s the least I can do for her.  Some people may open this blog, begin reading and then say to themselves, “Why the hell would you talk about something like housekeeping?

I found it necessary to state somewhat publicly how much I appreciate everything that my Annette has done and continues to do for our son, Eric, and I, and I just wanted to state, clearly, how fortunate I am to have her as my wife.