Gender roles in your family

How do you pass on ideas of gender roles and responsibilities to your kids?  Media and peers will influence, but the example you set in your own household sets the stage and expectation for your kids. 

Both my husband and I work full time and we take turns dropping and picking up our son from daycare.  We tag team playing with him in the evening while the other person washes dishes or checks email.  When he is sick, we try to switch days that we stay home with him. 

I have noticed that my son often mention his stuffed animals relying on their dad, while mom is at work. When reading a Llama Llama book, he asked where the dad was, while mom was running all the errands. By modeling gender equity as parents and providers, we can help reset the cultural expectation for our kids. I am not advocating that moms have to work, but just knowing that is a normal option changes the dynamic. 

One of the principles Cheryl Sandberg mentions in her book, "Lean In," is to make your partner a partner.  In order to support both careers, you need to share responsibilities in the home as well. 

I have to admit it is still not always even in our household. I usually plan the meals, shop and cook. Not so much because I am the only one capable, but because I take the initiative before my husband does.  If we planned it out ahead of time, we could organize a more balanced system. 

So that is one of my challenges this year, to be a role model (along with my husband) of balanced responsibility in the household.