Another interesting question. I have a slightly unusual home situation in that my husband and I share a home with my dad and my younger brother, who is 13. The three adults work full time, my dad teaches on weekends in winter (skiing), and my brother is in middle school (high school next year, sigh).

When it comes to chores, we kind of have a system that looks like chaos. We each do our own laundry (I do my husband's), but if clothes need to be rotated, we pitch in. My husband does daily dishes and kitchen duty, but we all try to pitch in on keeping the counters clear. My husband sorts the mail, but I sort it first to find important stuff, and I pay the bills (and do taxes, ugh). My dad pays some bills and buys the groceries, but we plan meals together and I try to shop with him so he's not alone. We all bring in the groceries, we all put them away (unless it gets crowded!). My dad cooks most meals, but if I'm home, I will help cook (and clean somewhat afterward), and sometimes we'll go out (we trade off paying each time). My brother is assigned miscellaneous chores, like vacuuming some part of the house, cleaning up his computer area (no computer in his bedroom), cleaning up his bedroom, that kind of thing. Whoever remembers takes out the trash/recycle. I can't remember the last time my husband cleaned toilets/sinks/showers, bathroom duty is kind of my thing, though my dad and brother have their own bathroom that I never use and only clean for them when company's coming over.

It's a delicate balance with 2 peoples' habits and personalities, it's a more delicate balance with 4. You really have to work to make a family successful, just like any relationship. We still have a lot of clutter and sometimes general house cleaning waits longer than it should, but I don't think we realise just how busy we are. Cleaning service is sounding better and better