How to Ask for Help Around the House

Last week I had a cold. Nothing too serious, but I needed lots of bed rest and a break from the mile-long to-do lists that normally make up my daily routine. While I felt better from taking much-needed time to rest, it also meant a huge pile-up of stuff around the house that didn't get done, from laundry, dishes and weekly vacuuming to a bunch of home maintenance tasks that all seemed due at once, like changing filters and testing smoke detector batteries. I knew that if I was going to get every...