Job vs. Chore - In the Bathroom

If you would like to read about the other rooms in this series Job Versus Chore click here.



This week we are braving the bathroom. The Bathroom is a room in the house that is generally shared by many people. It also needs to be cleaned often. I usually err on the side of If Everybody Uses It, Then Everybody Cleans It. But how you decide to delegate chores is up to you or a later blog post.



Chores for the Bathroom might include:

• Cleaning the Toilet
• Cleaning the Sink/faucet
• Cleaning the Bathtub / Shower
• Cleaning the mirrors
• Putting away Bath toys
• Putting away personal care items
• Wiping/mopping/vacuuming the floor
• Shaking out rugs
• Cleaning Windows
• Putting towels / wash cloths away
• Emptying the trash
• Freshening the hand towel

Since this room is usually shared by so many people, you could easily make everything a chore and not have any jobs. But these are things that I would consider paying someone to do:

• Changing Light bulbs


• Cleaning Light fixtures


• Changing batteries in Fire detectors


• Cleaning vents


• Changing/ cleaning shower curtain and/or liner


• Refilling soap dispensers


• Taking inventory of personal care products and 1st aid kit

In our house, we don't have a separate Master Bathroom, we have an upstairs bathroom, and a downstairs bathroom. But many houses do have a Master Bathroom, or even a guest bathroom that is not shared with the general house. I think it would be completely appropriate to consider those chores as potential jobs, or at least possibilities for chore trading.

(Chore trading is when one person may have all of chores of a certain category, i.e. washing mirrors, that he does through out the house, even in rooms that he does not use. In exchange, I or another member of the family may have the chore of cleaning all of the toilets. You can divide the chores up this way, or see how your kids barter and trade based on their likes, dislikes and skills.)

Many of the skills listed under Jobs, could be considered chores, but since they are not regularly done, I think I would prefer to hire them out to a kid that had the initiative.

But teaching your kids to have a daily cleaning routine in the bathroom will save them money in the future.