As a woman, I initially thought this title would have some humorous men vs. woman antidotes. I was surprised by the serious vein that most of the articles took. After reading several of the articles posted by men, I was enthusiastic about the level of self-examination and the repeated co-gender sharing of roles that was displayed.

My enthusiasm took a nose dive when I read some of the articles posted by women. I didn't see as much emphasis on sharing as I saw expressed as "the man should do". I thought we were equal. My husband (of 29 years) and I have 3 daughters so he is used to taking humorous abuse as the only man in the family.

1. Shopping. Every man should be able to drive to a store or mall, search out the necessary items needed and return home victorious. He doesn't have to like it, but should be able to accomplish this task. My husband does not like to shop, our girls claim that when they have gone shopping with him it causes him physical pain. Early in our marriage I willingly took on the role as primary shopper. Over the years I have done the lion's share of shopping but have found that when needed he steps up to the plate and gets the job done.

2. Cooking. While I willingly took on this role also, I do like to have a break every now and then. My husband is known throughout the family as making the best pizza homemade! His talents do reach further than this. When needed he has been able to make a variety of menus as long as he is supplied with easy to follow instructions. Over the years I have found that he thinks everything cooks at 350 degrees so I sometimes have to make adjustments for that. I once called him from Atlanta where a flight delay caused me to adjust my arrival time by 5 hours. We were having company for dinner and I planned on making beef stroganoff, my signature dish. I called Dan from Atlanta and gave him detailed instructions on how to prepare it. Lucky break I had already purchased the ingredients earlier that week. I told him to cut the sirloin steak into about 1 inch pieces. When I finally got home and checked on dinner, I found the stroganoff simmering nicely on the stove, with every piece of sirloin exactly 1" x 1".

3. Cleaning. I believe we share this responsibility equally based on two things: 1. Availability if one of us is out of town or really jammed with work, most times the other has stepped in and done the mundane cleaning tasks. 2. Threshold level whoever is bugged most by

• 1
• 2
• 3
• next page >>

---

Add your voice

Know something about Ten things every man should be able to do?
We want to hear your view. Write now!