This wasnt some grand experiment we planned, it started after a random Saturday morning conversation where my partner complained about always being the one keeping track of the grocery list. He laughed and said he’d gladly trade jobs for a while.
So we went for it. I took over the bills, scheduling, laundry, and dealing with our very opinionated dog. He handled the cooking, grocery shopping, and morning routine.
By day three he had burned dinner twice and forgotten the eggs. I meanwhile had a minor meltdown over the washing machine settings. At one point during the week, we were talking about it in a session on OurRitual and the therapist mentioned how role swapping can expose all the invisible work we dont usually notice. They weren’t kidding.
The biggest surprise wasn’t the mistakes it was the little realizations. How exhausting it is to be the one who remembers everything or how much emotional energy goes into keeping the household running smoothly.
By the end of the week we both felt a weird mix of relief and guilt going back to our normal roles. Relief because we were better at our original jobs guilt because we’d been taking the other person’s work for granted.
Has anyone else tried switching roles like this? Did it change how you see your partner’s contributions or just confirm you should never be in charge of certain things?