Week Twelve Blog Entry: Domestic Division of Labor

When filling out the chart on who does what tasks in our household, I was not very surprised to find out that results.  My mom has always been in charge of the daily tasks in our household. She does the cleaning around the house, such as vacuuming and cleaning the bathrooms. My dad has always been in charge of the housework duties, such as shoveling snow and mowing the lawn. In those regards, they both hold traditional roles as were outlined by the textbook. However, my parents have worked hard so that they share some of the more burdensome roles in our house. Making dinner is a chore that both of my parents do. My mom is in charge of making dinner about 4 nights a week, while my dad will make dinner about 3 nights a week. They also split this duty in the sense that the person who did not make dinner has to wash the dishes that night. Another particularly stressful task that both of my parents share is monitoring the family’s finances and paying bills. It used to be my mom that was more in charge of this, but my dad has recently taken on more of a responsibility with this so that all the stress does not fall on my mom. I think that they have set a very good example for me growing up. They have broken some of the traditional family roles and shown me that a marriage can be more of a partnership.