Thursday, March 21, 2013

Biblical gender roles and household duties and general content

 I just finished helping Liv do her homework.
 I loathe helping with homework. Nothing makes me angrier faster than homework time. Greg is like, 1000000000 times better at it than I am; he's more patient and keeps his composure better than I do. Too bad I have this weird notion of fairness; just because he's better at it doesn't mean he likes it any more than I do, so we take turns.
 There isn't a lot we take turns on. I enjoy my role as the person in charge of house keeping. I take care of the kids, I do the housework and meals. I know thaT in today's society it's considered sexist and/or degrading to say that defined gender lines are healthy, but I think they really are.
 That's not to say that a single parent is somehow in the wrong; I'm saying that the happiest of my marriages have been when the gender lines were clear and separate. When I take care of the home and kids and the husband provides for us.
  I can't speak for everyone, but I know the most content, and stress free I've been in my life is when I've been the keeper of the home. And in my three marriages, I've found that the relationships seem healthier and happier when I have been able to just focus on keeping the home and kids and the man provides for us. In my first marriage, I did almost all of the work outside the home. And in it, for that matter, but that's a complaint for a different topic. That relationship was bad for a lot of reasons, so I'm not sure that example is best.
In my second marriage, Karl and I were at our healthiest and happiest when I was home taking care of the kids and able to have dinner done and keep things cleaned up and he was able to work. When I started working part-time from home, he had to pick up more house work, and our relationship struggled. When he quit -- even though he was basically forced to quit, due to economy, even before cancer -- and I started working full time, our roles had switched and neither of us was entirely comfortable with it. Our relationship was really strained. It was kind of crumbling a little bit until cancer hit, to be honest. I haven't ever told anyone that we talked about separating. Well, he talked about it some, about the possibility of moving in with his dad, and I mostly just listened. I wasn't sure if we were being serious or not. But then he was diagnosed and that talk just disappeared. There wasn't time or energy for it.
Now, I'm able to be home and keep the house and be here with the kids and Greg doesn't have to do much of it (occasionally, I ask for help and he is always willing, when I get overwhelmed), and I am in probably the healthiest marriage/relationship I've ever been in. Is it the defined gender roles or that Greg is just really good for me, or the fact that he's actually the first Christian man I've ever been with, or maybe all three? I do think that the gender lines are important to an extent in a healthy marriage. And I really enjoy being here for the kids, and being home and having dinner and the house and myself ready and waiting for Greg. I don't think I'd be as good a wife if I worked outside, because I'd get home needing to focus on ME instead of focusing on US (note that I focus on US and not just him --well, sometimes I do because everyone needs to be focused on and spoiled sometimes, but he does this for me as well -- I know some women think that clearly defined gender roles means going back to 1950's good housekeeping rules, where women didn't bring their complaints and woes to their husbands because his were assumed to be worse by default, and her job was to let him unwind. He's my best friend and we hear each other out, and help each other unwind. It's never one-sided.).
I DO know healthy, happy people who don't follow these lines, though. What works for you, works for you. What you do with your family is personal, and no one else's business. This is what works for me, for my family.

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