ESP

Elias is taking a nap and the kids don't need to be picked up from school for a few more minutes, so I took the time to read NY Times online. I came across the Sunday magazine article on Equally Shared Parenting, and was quite suprised to see a description of what Ar and I already do neatly laid out and analyzed. It is basically parents who share the work of child raising and housekeeping together without fighting and nagging and with equality. I think it is quite a harmonious way to live. I imagine the article will result in the term being picked up in the media quite a bit, but I thought I would write about it anyway.
Ariel is a self employed painting contractor and I am an RN. I work about 24 hours a week, and he works somehere between 25-40 (depending on the season - he works a lot in the summer). I do morning routine and get the kids off to school. He does bedtime routine. I do most of the cooking and I do tend to keep track of dentist appointments, etc...but he does a good share of housework himself. In the fall, I am going to have about 9 months of clinicals for my masters and will have to start working 40 hours a week with every other friday off. When that time comes, we have already planned that we will do our house cleaning on Saturday mornings and everyone will chip in and do their share for the 3 or so hours it usually takes me now.
One thing brought up is that it is often difficult for Moms to let go of being in control of child rearing, house keeping, etc. That is a big joke for us - I grew up in a very unstructured house and don't really worry about stuff, while Ar is much more of a stickler. He is also really good at getting the kids to do their chores, homework, etc....something I am a bit lax at. It was fun to identify with the article, and I really feel like we have something pretty great worked out between us. We almost never fight about housework, child care - and I certainly don't feel like I am enslaved to my responsibilities as a Mom and household head.