I'm a statistical anomaly ...

An article was posted on fw about the amount of housework done by men and women. The original poster played up that women work 7 hours a week more if they are married than single, but for single men the amount of housework goes down when they get hitched. Having kids greatly increases the work.

But part of the reason that it goes up for women and down for men is because single men out-housework single women:

Single guys worked the hardest around the house, trumping all age groups of married men.

I'm not one of those single men. I do the bare minimum of housework. The way I see it, there are two kinds of houswork - that which absolutely needs to get done, and that which can be put off. In part one - the necessary - is stuff like laundry, dishes, cooking, scooping out Nibbler's litterbox. If I don't do these things, I have no clean underwear and a house that smells like cat shit. In catagory two is stuff that can wait - vacuuming, going through clutter, cleaning the kitchen or bathroom. This is stuff that can wait, and often does.

When I do finally motivate myself to do these things, I'm proud of myself - it's nice not to stick to the bathroom floor, to have a clear space on the living room coffee table. But it isn't essential, and when it comes down to doing those things or making money on eBay or reading a book or watching a TV show, those other things win.

On the rare occasions that I have people coming over, I do clean - I want to present Casa De Mad in the most favorable light, impress people with my tasteful decor . But when it's just me, and I know it's just going to get dirty anyway, not so much.

I think part of it is I've tended to view home as little more than a place to sleep and poop. Spending too much time at home reminds me that I'm alone. Sure, sometimes I enjoy spending Sunday morning sipping coffee, watching The Journal Editorial Report off the ReplayTV, and petting the cat, but I tend to spend quite a bit of time at work, at the gym, or running errands - someplace but in my messy house.

So single ladies in the house, look at it this way - if you marry me, it's unlikely I could do any LESS housework than I do now..