Quote:
|
Originally Posted by mixedmedia
Not to mention all the stereotypes about wives that are portrayed in the media...including the stereotype of the wife who doesn't trust her husband's judgement. It swings both ways, you know.
That said, in my own experience, with my first husband (with whom I had two kids) I seemed to have the child-rearing thing more in hand than he did. *shrug* I dunno...it's not that I didn't or wouldn't trust him to care for their basic needs or would ever ask someone to look in on them if I were away (which I never was), it's just that he always seemed to turn to me for the final word on most things.
Plus, I always had the sneaking suspicion he understood that, if I were around, I would always take the lead on issues with the kids and he could chill and not take responsibility. And I have a sneaking suspicion that that's not uncommon.
|
Oh I don't doubt that this is the case most of the time. The thing is, I think it's the case because we allow it to be the case. When a kid is 14 and wants to earn money, what do they do around the neighborhood? If it's a girl, she's encouraged to babysit. If it's a boy, he's encouraged to do something like mow lawns. Just one example.
I think if we, as a culture, put more effort towards teaching boys to also care for children, more fathers would not only be interested in it, but not be so far behind their wives in knowing what to do.