7Rania and Youssef

One evening, after a long, tiring day, Youssef and Rania sat in the living room, each scrolling their phone, silence between them. Rania was frustrated and worn out.

All the past week she had been working at home non-stop: cooking, tidying the rooms and caring for the children, while Youssef was busy with work and hadn’t lent a hand.

“I feel tired and alone when I do all the housework by myself.”

After some thought, instead of saying, “You never help me,” she decided to begin her sentence with “I feel”, describe the reason precisely, without accusation, and in a calm voice.

She said, “I feel tired and alone when I do all the housework by myself, especially when we’re expecting guests this weekend.”

Youssef listened attentively, felt guilty, looked into her eyes and said, “I’m sorry I’ve let you down. I didn’t notice the pressure you’ve been carrying. I’ll make more of an effort; let’s start tidying the house together right now.”

Thanks to that small sentence, each understood the other’s feelings, and they agreed to share the household responsibilities.