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Title: Fair Play
Author: Eve Rodsky
Pages: 352
Finished: April 12, 2022
Premise: Rodsky begins the book discussing the domestic labor so many partners do all by themselves at home. This labor tends to go unrecognized and can eventually cause enough resentment for couples to split. Rodsky decided to figure a way to break this system and came up with the Fair Play game method.
She breaks the domestic labor into 100 different tasks. Partners are to take time to discuss which of these tasks they value in their home, discuss what full conception, planning, and execution of those tasks are, discuss what the minimum standard of care for those tasks are, and then deal them out in ways that make sense. Once one person holds a task, they hold all of that task from conception to execution with a minimum standard of care.
Of course, no card is meant to be held forever and partners are encouraged to meet once a week to review and redeal as necessary.
Thoughts: I really like this idea. My partner and I are fairly equal in what we do around the house. The problem is we both handle everything, which means we both are doing full conception, planning, and execution of many duplicate tasks. This means we’re harried all the time AND things fall through the cracks when we assume the other has taken care of things. I think a system like the one described here where we know who is responsible for each task is fantastic and would really lighten our mental load.
I also love the fact that the author stresses the Minimum Standard of Care. This means that both partners can do the task without it being a problem. I foresee that being crucial in the discussions.
I just need to schedule a time with my partner to talk about this now!
Living alone makes maintenance more challenging in some ways - usually one-half of the couple cares more than the other about all or certain things and that person does more of the work. I *care* and have good intentions, then get home from work tired and just collapse with a book instead!
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