1.Decide together what needs to be done in home. 2.Share workload fairly, i.e. one who’s better at math does budget, etc. 3.Give up control and let go. If you want your man to do chores, let him do it his way. 4.If you have children, train them to pick up after themselves and increase their chores as they get older

Should a real man do housework? The answer is up to you, but first define a ’real man’. A real man strives to do what’s right. A real man is confident of his masculinity and is not swayed by media stereotypes. A real man is responsible, and takes care of his family’s needs. A real man will do housework, so that his spouse doesn’t burn out. A real man’s wife feels loved, and his children are secure.

For all you men out there who still refuse to do housework, here is some food for thought: It’s new millennium, macho man has been replaced by considerate man. Offering to give kids a bath goes a lot further than flexing your biceps. Showing consideration is new turn on. Try impressing your partner by doing your share around house and leave explosions to James Bond. Figure out how to use that washing machine.

Richmond Acheampong is Editor and Founder of Parent Tree, an online family resource web site. His site promotes family health and balance thru thought provoking articles, products, advice columns and resourceful links. For more information and articles pertaining to family life, visit: http://www.parenttree.com “Healthy Homes and Happy Families”

Unless these items truly hold sentimental value, it's worth selling them to a used furniture store or at a yard sale for a bit of cash. (I'll tell you why sell in a minute.) Or spend a few bucks to put an ad in your local "Pennysaver" type newspaper advertising item for sale.

SELL HIGH; BUY LOW Then negotiate with potential buyer so you get best price possible for item you're selling. That means you must suggest a price that's beyond what you expect to get. Why? Because these days potential buyers will almost always ask you to come down on price. In fact, I guarantee three out of four buyer prospects will try to get you to lower price. So start high so they feel like they're negotiating price down.

Why sell item in first place? Because you want to use cash you make to upgrade to a taller unit of same item. If you watch those home decorating/organizing shows on television, you may recall that there is a certain show that uses just this strategy. They have a big yard sale with all participant's useless items and use money to upgrade to more useful and stylish items for same space in home. The difference in home is usually extraordinary at completion. You're striving for a similar method and outcome.

NOW DOUBLE YOUR SPACE You want to use cash to buy a comparable piece of furniture that serves a similar function as piece you just discarded. You can even put new furniture piece in exact same spot where you had previous piece. But make sure new piece of furnishing is taller with more shelving or nooks. Remember, big two word secret in this article is "go vertical." So in end, you'll use same floor space in your home but double its storage capacity.

And when replacing your items with comparable items, don't hesitate to buy used furniture (even from same shop you sold yours too). If it's in good shape in regard to quality (e.g. no rotting, flimsy wood panels, etc.) but not exactly your favorite color, you can fix that. Get a four dollar can of spray paint and a primer spray coat and change color. Or get creative such as use some pretty contact paper to redo outside. And one final piece of advice: Don't forget to negotiate when you're buyer!