There are so many pages on this section and I haven’t really scrolled down to every single page asking about this particular topic but here goes.
I have 4 kids and Im on my own. the oldest are girls at high school and while they do their fair share of the chores even though I have to nag them, would you let your son do the traditional ‘women’s’ jobs?
I ask cos I have trained my son who’s a junior that jobs around the house are deemed equal and we don’t discriminate between girls and boys. I have taught my son how to load/unload the dishwasher, sweep the floors, lay and clear the table as well as making his own bed every day which really should go without saying.
My girls are older and spend most of their time studying and they do their chores when told to but their dad was round last week visiting the kids and was horrified when he saw our son sweeping the floor after dinner. This led to an argument with me saying that it is this attitude that most if the guys in his paindoo khandaan have ended up like they have cos they are still living in the dark ages.
I have said that we are no longer living in Pakistan where I have seen this happen: girls are made to do everything while the boys sit back and have a laugh. This is something I do not want to impose on my kids at all. Me and brothers were not raised like this and I have no intention of seeing my son grow up thinking that this is all women do, produce babies and work like a slave around the house.
What do you think? Do you let your kids do a mixture of chores believing that they are equals amongst their siblings?
I agree with you. When your son is in college and living in a dorm by himself or sharing an apt with his friends, he will thank you for training him in such chores.
My bro vacuums, sweeps, dusts, puts dishes in the dishwasher, takes them out. He can't cook or fold his clothes which I wish my mom pushed a bit harder for.
I think I'd be a cruel mum if I didn't equip my son with life skills or didn't teach him how to become domesticated. I would even go as far as to think he will one day thank me for exposing him to such things.
Your hubby can get back at you by teaching your daughters how to change the flat tire in his car. Mian biwi kee fight main bachchon ka fa'edaa
I have taught my daughters how to change a fuse in a faulty plug and my eldest, she's nearly 13 but can assemble flat pack furniture, work her way through computers, change the really difficult awkward spotlights in the bathroom and when I was pregnant with her baby sister, she fixed up the cot, the swing and much later on she assembled the TV cabinet, assembled her own study desk at 11 and only last week changed the shower head unit although that is relatively simple. I cannot stress to my kids how important these life skills are.
**its my way of life since my childhood. my mom passed away when i was 9 and she also left behind my sister who was only 1 year old at the time. as a result, i and all of my siblings did what they could as per their ability in raising our baby sister.
i loved my sisters and my Bhabhi [who was/is more like a mother to me] more than my brothers. my Bhabhi at the time lived in an other town and took care of my other brother and two sisters because they were attending school/college there.
i would really get sad to see my two sisters working so hard,. we lived in a village at that time where we didn't have electricity or running water. life was tough.
i loved to help my sisters so i started helping them in every possible way...in the kitchen, swept floors with old fashion jhaaRoo, mopped floor with rag, fetched water from the well, changed the baby's langoTis [old fashioned cloth diapers], hand-washed baby's clothes, prepared bottles for her...so i learned to do everything that needed to be done in the house.
i'm glad i helped my sisters in ALL types of house-chores. i STILL help my Bhabhi in the Kitchen because i LOVE my Bhabhi...she is like my mother :)
so, i think there MUST NOT be any GENDER DISCRIMINATION in the assignment of house-chores. PERIOD!**
My SO's mom raised him with all the "girl" skills. SO moved out at 18 to go to college at a different state....so during college, med school, residency etc....he lived on his own. He knows how to cook, do laundry, sweep, vacumm, make beds etc. LOL.....his mom loved to garden so SO actually knows quite a bit about gardening too b/c he used to help her as a child! SO always talks about how grateful he is that his mom taught him all those things b/c when he lived on his own....life was much less stressful b/c he wasn't fat a "loss" as to how to do those simple/daily chores. And as a woman, I can tell you that having a man who knows how to do all those chores is a blessing. :)
Both boys and girls should be independent enough to be able to survive on their without having to ask for help on the simplest household chores. Am glad you have raised your son like that.
he would grow up to respect all women as well as be independent and be thankful when has a job or university - where he would need to juggle with studies and household chores all by himself :)
Your hubby can get back at you by teaching your daughters how to change the flat tire in his car. Mian biwi kee fight main bachchon ka fa'edaa
For the record, I would quite happily let my hubby teach the girls car maintenance I mean why not? I don't drive so I can't teach them but if for instance when they are car owners and are stranded at the hard shoulder on the motorway in the dark while its raining, I will be so glad that at least he taught them how to change a tyre and I'd like to think they would thank us for it x
what do you think we are .. “girls” ? .. holy… cow !