Thursday, June 26, 2008

Equal Parenting

Apparently I'm part of a new movment called Equal Parenting. I had no idea that this was a radical concept. The hubby and I just do what works naturally for us. We've always considered ourselves equals and parenting is no different. I don't understand how people don't share the responsibilities of a marriage and family. If I didn't work and was able to stay home with Monkeyface then I would do as much as I could to keep the house running. That would be my job but I know that the hubby would still be there helping me out. If it was the opposite and he stayed home then I would be there to help him.
Now there is no way that I'm going to divide the responsibilities equally and create a list and stick to it. I like the flexibility of saying "If you clean the bathroom upstairs then I'll do the 2 downstairs." I just like being able to see what needs to be done and getting it done. I do most of the grocery shopping b/c I look for deals while he goes in as quickly as possible and grabs what he sees first. I solved this by doing most of the grocery shopping myself and asking him to stop on the way home from work to pick up any fillers we may need from time to time. Same goes for yard work. I hate to mow the grass but I don't mind pulling weeds and picking up limbs. He takes care of Monkeyface every Friday night so that I can have a girl's night out and I spend the weekends hanging out with Monkeyface so that he can work and relax a little when he gets home.
Is this radical? I don't think so. I just think it works for us and keeps our house peaceful. I couldn't imagine not sharing the responsibility of teaching our son.

1 comments:

KQ

Interesting article. Unfortunately, due to my controlling nature, I have taken on more responsibility than I should. But, we change things around when I get sick of doing the "master and apprentice" thing. There's still a long way to go!