Originally Posted by
Stephanie47
I wonder what single men do when it comes to domestic chores? Are their abodes closed down by the local board of health as a health hazard? Unsanitary? My wife and I worked and shared responsibilities before our kids were born. Then, the "more traditional" roles set in as she stayed home with the kids while I went to work. In my daily absence she did the vast majority of domestic chores which also included mowing the lawn. She once kidded in front of several of my male coworkers who were visiting that I had bought her a lawn mower for Mother's Day. Before, they got her joke, they were in awe that I had such a subservient wife. Actually, she mowed the lawn because that chores aggravated a shrapnel wound to my back and shoulder. When the kids were in school she worked part-time and the responsibilities became more shared.
Fast forward to my retirement. When I retired my wife continued to work part time but full days; substitute certified teacher. Now the roles were truly reversed. Not only would my daily life be boring, it would have been wrong NOT to do the domestic chores; vacuuming, laundry, ironing, baking, meal preparation, tending the rose garden, etc. The only thing she made a comment about was I seemed to forget to clean the bathrooms. I would not characterize this stage in our marriage as "female lead." It was only fair, if she was working for 7.5 hours a day that I should do the domestic chores. I have been the one who writes the checks to pay the bills. She has no clue what our finances are. She has made some comments over the years that lead our son to think, if I were to pass away, she would be in the poor house. I had to tell my son what our finances were,and, if I were to die what his mother's income would be. It drives me insane sometimes that she does not know what the heck will happen if I were to drop dead tomorrow.
My wife has finally retired. We share the domestic chores. I still do more than half of the meal preparation, and, we each do our our laundry. Before my wife retired I did all those domestic chores a la June Cleaver; dress, heels and hosiery, and all the proper undergarments, but, wig only, no makeup as too time consuming.