Living under the same roof with three generations has caused me to reflect. My husband and I currently have my 81-year-old dad living with us while we find him a more suitable living arrangement. Our 23-year-old son and his fiancee are also staying here while transitioning into their place.
My dad is a very old-school type of man. Sadly, this caused him many problems after my mom passed away. He could not take care of himself, which sparked this post. In his opinion, men should do things, and women should dote on their husbands.
Independence is so important on many levels. I hope you will bear with me because explaining what I think might be challenging. My mom did most of the housework, cooking, laundry, etc. One person I was talking to lately called these types of jobs “pink’ jobs. So, if there are pink jobs, there must be blue jobs. I started to think about things I don’t do around our home. I rarely take the garbage out. I have not mowed the lawn in years. Blue jobs?
I look at the three generations living here, and I see change. There seems to be less division between male and female jobs. My son and his future bride seem to have a much better handle working together to get things done. They have a natural rhythm, for example, one will cook supper, and the other will clean up. One will throw in a load of laundry before heading to work. The other one will dry it. One will pick up the dog poop; the other will mow the lawn. Things change when little ones are part of the picture, but children shouldn’t see a division of tasks. As well, as we age, we should be careful not to fall into letting our spouse take care of those responsibilities.