Kael stared at the sheet of paper on the dining table. Beside it sat a pen, a notebook, and a cup of tea that had already gone cold. Sera sat across from him with Noah resting in his bassinet nearby. She looked at the blank page with a serious expression, as if they were about to negotiate a business contract.
In a way, they were.
"We need a proper schedule," Sera said.
Kael nodded. "Agreed."
"Something that covers cooking, cleaning, shopping, and taking care of Noah at night."
"Agreed," Kael repeated.
"And we need to make sure neither of us ends up doing everything."
"Absolutely."
Sera folded her arms and looked at him. "Then why haven’t you written anything?"
Kael picked up the pen. "I was waiting for you to finish explaining the terms and conditions."
Sera gave him a look. "Write."
Kael lowered his head and began.
Their recent attempts to organize their lives had gone reasonably well, but they still found themselves making decisions at the last minute. Sometimes Kael would start cooking only to discover that they were missing an ingredient. Other times, Sera would plan to work on her sketches, only for an unexpected household task to take up the time she had set aside.
Neither of them wanted that to become their normal routine.
Kael had also learned that saying, "I’ll handle it," wasn’t always the same as having a workable plan. If he wanted to return to work and continue training, they needed to know who would handle the household responsibilities while he was away.
The same applied to Sera. She had her own interests and plans, and she shouldn’t have to abandon them every time something needed to be done around the apartment.
That was why they had decided to make a list.
Kael wrote HOUSEHOLD SCHEDULE at the top of the page.
Sera leaned forward to look at it. "That title sounds too serious."
"What would you prefer?" Kael asked.
"Something like ’How Not to Drive Each Other Crazy.’"
Kael considered the suggestion before nodding. "That might be more accurate."
He crossed out the first title and wrote her suggestion underneath.
Sera smiled. "Much better."
"Now that we’ve settled the important matter, can we get to the actual schedule?" Kael asked.
"Go ahead," Sera replied.
Kael began with cooking.
"I can handle breakfast most mornings, especially on days when I’m not working," he said.
Sera nodded. "I can take care of lunch when I’m free, and we can share dinner."
"Share it how?" Kael asked.
"One of us cooks while the other prepares the ingredients or watches Noah. We can switch depending on the day."
Kael wrote that down.
"Cleaning," he continued. "I’ll wash the dishes after dinner."
"And I’ll clean the kitchen counters," Sera added.
"Fine. We can take turns sweeping and mopping," Kael suggested.
"Good. What about laundry?" Sera asked.
Kael paused with his pen hovering over the paper. "We do laundry when there’s enough to make it worthwhile?"
Sera gave him a thoughtful look. "That sounds reasonable. But we should check Noah’s clothes more often. Babies have a talent for making a perfectly clean outfit useless in a matter of minutes."
"That’s true," Kael admitted.
He added laundry to the list.
They moved on to shopping. Sera suggested making a list of groceries and household supplies before going out, so they wouldn’t keep making separate trips for things they had forgotten.
Kael agreed immediately. "That will also help us control our spending."
"Exactly. We can check what we already have before buying more," Sera said.
Kael wrote down a weekly grocery check and a reminder to keep track of baby supplies.
For a while, everything went smoothly. Then they reached nighttime care.
Kael tapped the pen against the table. "We could alternate nights. One night I’ll handle Noah, and the next night you’ll handle him."
Sera stared at him. "All night?"
"That’s what alternating means," Kael replied.
"Kael, we have a newborn. If I handle him all night, then spend the next day looking after him while you’re working, when exactly am I supposed to sleep?"
Kael opened his mouth, then stopped. He hadn’t thought about what happened after the night was over.
"All right. Maybe alternating entire nights isn’t the best idea," he admitted.
"Maybe?" Sera repeated.
Kael sighed. "Fine. It isn’t the best idea."
Sera leaned back in her chair. "We should divide the night into shifts when possible. If Noah wakes up early in the night, one of us handles him. The other gets some rest, and we switch later."
"That could work," Kael agreed. "On days when I have an afternoon shift, I can take the earlier part of the night and let you rest. If I work the next day, we can adjust it."
"And if one of us is exhausted, we change the plan," Sera added.
Kael nodded and wrote that down.
They were beginning to understand that a schedule wasn’t supposed to force them into doing the same things regardless of their circumstances. It was supposed to help them manage their responsibilities without making life harder than it needed to be.
Unfortunately, they weren’t finished arguing.
"All right," Kael said, turning to the cleaning section. "We need to decide how often we sweep and mop."
"Twice a week should be enough for mopping," Sera suggested. "We can sweep more often if the floor gets dirty."
Kael wrote it down. "That sounds fine."
"And the bathroom?" Sera asked.
"Once a week," Kael answered.
Sera looked at him. "Once a week?"
"Yes," Kael replied.
"Kael, how often do you think we use the bathroom?"
He blinked. "Every day?"
"Exactly. And Noah’s things need to be cleaned regularly too. Once a week isn’t going to be enough for everything."
Kael looked at the paper. "I meant a proper cleaning. We can wipe things down during the week."
"Then write that," Sera told him.
He added a note about quick daily cleaning and a more thorough weekly clean.
"Happy?" Kael asked.
"Much better," Sera replied.
Kael moved to the cooking section. "Now, about dinner. We can prepare enough food for two meals sometimes. That way, we won’t have to cook every evening."
Sera nodded. "That’s a good idea. But don’t make so much that we end up eating the same thing for four days."
"I would never," Kael said.
She looked at him pointedly.
Kael remembered the large pot of rice he had prepared earlier that week. "That was a reasonable amount."
"We were eating it for three days," Sera reminded him.
"And nobody went hungry," Kael argued.
"That isn’t the point," Sera replied.
Kael sighed and added another note. "Cook enough for leftovers, but not enough to feed the entire building."
"Exactly," Sera said.
They both smiled, pleased that the schedule was finally taking shape.
Then Sera pointed to the shopping section. "You wrote that I should check the groceries every Sunday."
"Yes," Kael answered.
"What if I have something planned that day?" Sera asked.
"We can do it on Saturday instead," Kael suggested.
"And what if we’re both busy?"
Kael paused before answering. "We do it when we have time?"
Sera folded her arms. "That’s not a schedule. That’s a suggestion."
Kael stared at the paper. He had to admit she was right.
"Fine. We’ll choose a day each week, but if something comes up, we’ll move it," Kael said. "The point is to make sure we check the supplies regularly, not to force ourselves to do it on a particular day."
Sera nodded. "That’s better."
Kael put down the pen and examined the list. It covered cooking, cleaning, laundry, shopping, and nighttime care. The plan looked simple enough, but every time they tried to make one part more specific, another problem appeared.
He was beginning to understand why people argued about household chores. It wasn’t always because the work was difficult. Sometimes it was because each person had a different idea of how much effort a task required.
The next disagreement started when Sera suggested that Kael take responsibility for preparing Noah’s things before his afternoon shifts.
"That way, I won’t have to stop whatever I’m doing to look for supplies when you leave," she explained.
Kael nodded. "Fine. I’ll make sure his diapers, wipes, and spare clothes are ready."
"And check the feeding supplies too," Sera added.
"Of course," Kael replied.
"Also, make sure the laundry basket isn’t full."
Kael looked up. "How did laundry get involved?"
"Because if you leave without checking, I’ll discover that we have no clean clothes when I need them," Sera explained.
"But that’s a separate task," Kael pointed out.
"Not when it affects the same part of the day," Sera replied.
Kael leaned back in his chair. "You’re adding extra work to my section."
Sera looked at him in disbelief. "You’re preparing a few things before you leave. I’m the one who’ll be here looking after Noah while you’re at work."
"I know, but you can’t put every task that happens before my shift under my name," Kael argued.
"I’m not. I’m asking you to make sure the things you use are ready before you go," Sera explained.
Kael considered that. When she put it that way, it sounded reasonable.
"All right. I’ll check the baby supplies before I leave, and I’ll make sure there are enough clean clothes for the day. But if the laundry basket is full, we’ll need to decide who has time to do it," Kael said.
"That’s fair," Sera agreed.
She picked up the pen and added the note herself.
Kael watched her write. "You seem to be enjoying this."
"I’m enjoying the fact that we’re finally writing things down instead of assuming the other person will remember," Sera replied.
"That sounds suspiciously like a criticism," Kael said.
"It’s an observation," Sera answered.
"An observation with a sharp edge," Kael remarked.
Sera laughed.
They continued working on the list, making small adjustments whenever they found something that didn’t quite fit. Kael agreed to handle more of the cooking on days when he wasn’t working, while Sera would take the lead on planning meals and keeping track of the household supplies.
They would share cleaning, switch laundry duties when necessary, and divide nighttime care according to their energy levels and work schedules. Neither of them would be permanently responsible for every task. If one person had a busy day, the other could take over where possible, and they would make up the difference later.
By the time they finished, the paper was covered in neat handwriting, crossed-out lines, and a few notes in the margins.
Kael read through the list one final time. "I think we’ve done it."
Sera leaned over to inspect the page. "Almost."
Kael dropped his head onto the table. "What now?"
She pointed to the bottom of the page. "You forgot to include what happens when Noah has a difficult night."
Kael lifted his head again. "We rest whenever we can, postpone anything that isn’t urgent, and help each other."
Sera considered his answer. "That should be written down."
He added it to the list.
If Noah has a difficult night, adjust the following day’s schedule. Rest comes first.
Sera smiled. "Now we’re done."
Kael looked at the finished list with a mixture of satisfaction and exhaustion. "That was harder than I expected."
"Because you thought making a schedule meant writing down a few chores," Sera replied.
"Isn’t that what it means?" Kael asked.
"No. It means figuring out how to make those chores work with two adults, a baby, and a life that refuses to follow a plan," Sera explained.
Kael nodded slowly. "That’s annoyingly accurate."
"You’re welcome," Sera replied.
They decided to test the schedule the following day.
Kael would prepare breakfast and handle the dishes afterward. Sera would use the morning to work on her sketches while Noah was settled, and they would share lunch preparations. If Kael had an afternoon shift, he would make sure the baby’s supplies were ready before leaving.
The rest of the plan would depend on how the day went.
Before putting the paper away, Sera read the last section again. "We should review this after a week."
"Why? Does it look bad?" Kael asked.
"No, but we don’t know yet whether it works," Sera explained.
Kael thought about the difficult night they had experienced earlier in the week. They had planned to rest, but Noah had woken repeatedly. Their original plans had fallen apart, and they had needed to adjust everything.
A schedule could help them prepare, but it couldn’t predict every problem.
"You’re right," Kael said. "We’ll see which parts work and which ones don’t. Then we’ll change them."
"And if one of us starts feeling overwhelmed before the week is over, we don’t wait until the review," Sera added.
"We talk about it immediately," Kael agreed.
Sera nodded. "Good."
Kael picked up the paper and stuck it to the refrigerator with a magnet. He stepped back to admire their work.
"There. Our household is officially organized," Kael announced.
Sera glanced at the paper. "For the next twelve hours, perhaps."
"Have a little faith," Kael told her.
"I’m trying," Sera replied.
At that moment, Noah began crying from the living room. Both of them turned toward the sound.
Kael looked at Sera. "According to the schedule, whose turn is it?"
Sera checked the time. "Yours."
Kael sighed dramatically. "Of course it is."
He headed toward the crib while Sera watched him with an amused smile.
"Remember to check his diaper before feeding him!" Sera called after him.
"I know!" Kael called back.
"And don’t forget to wash your hands!" Sera added.
Kael stopped in the doorway and looked back at her. "Would you like to come and do it yourself?"
"No. You’re doing wonderfully," Sera replied.
"That doesn’t sound sincere," Kael said.
"It wasn’t supposed to be," Sera answered.
She laughed as Kael disappeared into the living room.
Despite the teasing, Sera felt relieved. They hadn’t solved every problem, but they had finally started making decisions together instead of leaving everything to chance.
Kael felt the same way as he picked up Noah and checked his diaper.
The chore list wasn’t going to make parenting easy. It wouldn’t stop Noah from crying at inconvenient times, and it wouldn’t prevent unexpected expenses or difficult days. But it gave them somewhere to start, and if the plan stopped working, they would change it.
That was better than expecting either of them to carry everything alone.