Over at PHD in Parenting yesterday, Annie had a great blog post, Back to School = Back to Gender Roles which highlighted how back to school articles are aimed almost exclusively to moms. When Audrey starts kindergarten next week, I will be increasing my work week from three ten hour days a week, to four shorter days a week. I have not worked four days a week since Audrey was born, so I expect an adjustment period for all of us.
I do 95% of the cooking in our house, mostly because I like to cook and I'm quick. But now that the Lindsey and Audrey will be home two hours in the afternoons before I get home, it makes sense to offload some of the cooking to him (them?). I think it is important for Audrey to see that it isn't only women who cook. As a couple, we share so many domestic duties that I feel she gets a pretty balanced view, but the cooking thing, we need to tackle.
And while on the topic of gender and school, I was kind of amazed and annoyed that the only pencil box options in the stores were pink and blue. I did find a clear one online. Audrey selected all on her own, a solar system backpack and robot lunch box. I'm suspect most of the girls in her class will have some princess or variation. I wonder (worry) that kids will ask her why she has a boy backpack. I think she has the kind of personality that isn't going to care. That is my hope anyway.