Drinking my morning coffee and reading the paper. Let’s see…people are ticked off at gas prices. People are driving less because of gas prices. Kentucky won’t be able to repair roads because people are buying less gas. WAIT A MINUTE! Flipping over to the editorial pages, there’s a nice big article by Kathleen Parker of the Washington Post Writers Group about studies being done to prove that men and women are different!
Well, isn’t THAT the craziest thing you’ve ever heard?
Every now and then I read about “studies” being done that are really just a waste of time. This would be one of those studies. According to the article, recent figures from a study done by the University of Wisconsin (the nicest state in the U.S.!) shows that women do more household chores and are more than likely to stay home to be a caregiver than men. As much as we would like to think that feminism has done it’s job and made us more equal in the eyes of society, the fact of the matter is is that women and men see things very differently and will never change. Women are not, as some might think, ready to relinquish the role of the maternal parent. It’s a genetics thing…not a society thing.
This weekend I am by myself with my 2 kids. I’ve been alone with them now since 2pm yesterday. Needless to say…I am ready to go back to work. Being a parent is really difficult! It’s not just the basic necessities that make it hard. The feeding them and caring for them part is easy. It’s the answering of questions and the constant entertaining and the talking about things that I have no idea what they are talking about and so on and so forth. I love my kids! But I am so out of the loop about anything and everything that a lot of times all I can do is stare at them blankly and nod my head. Don’t know what I’m agreeing with…but I just roll with it.
Mom, on the other hand, IS connected. She understands them so much better than I do. She knows when they are just tired and need to sit down for a few minutes. She knows when they need more sunblock. She knows when enough is enough and no more cookies because dinner is in an hour. I do not possess such abilities. You could throw some electrodes on me and study me for days and you would never figure out why I don’t get it. It’s just the way I am. I play and wrestle and sing and dance and act goofy with my kids. My wife is the one in charge and that is the way we have set it up. We both like it that way. There’s no reason for society to judge whether we’re doing it right or wrong. it’s just the way we do it! And I’m imagining that there are millions of people out there just like us.
So those professors at the University of Wisconsin can continue to do their studies and continue to make their pie charts and graphs. But I got news for them…you’d be better off using your time studying the mating habits of gerbils because we are never gonna change. We are hard-wired to be what we are…hunters and gatherers. And in my family, I am the hunter!
Now…I just wish I knew what it is I’m supposed to be hunting. Maybe my wife can tell me?
A Round World Through Square Glasses 