Normally I like the Fine Living Network… but today they had a segment that made me wonder what era I was living in.
“Smart tips: Leaving Dad in Charge” – the name itself should prove to be an indicator of why this made me angry.
Included in this blob of 50’s era bullshit were these –

# Before leaving home, cook simple prepared meals that are easy to heat in the microwave. It will give you peace of mind as well as provide nutrition for the family.
# Write out a schedule of the kids’ daily activities to help keep Dad on track while you’re away.

To me if both parents don’t already know HOW TO COOK or the schedule, then you both fail. It should not be one parents sole responsibility to keep track of these things. “Mom” fails cause she’s a control freak and “Dad” fails cause he’s lazy and can only use the microwave, apparently. Now I get that “Dad” might not cook every night and might not be the one to normally cart the kids around but he should not have to have instructions like a baby sitter would in order to take care of his own spawn. You fail as a parent if you do. You are not a parent you are a babysitter who gets to hump mom.

Another gem from this segment:

If you have small children, lay out their clothes a head of time (so “Dad” doesn’t have to worry about it).

WHY IS “DAD” INCOMPETENT? Maybe its just me, I had an involved Dad who did part of the cooking, house chores, picking out clothes, EVERYTHING… Maybe I’m just used to a family that was in things together and didn’t segment their roles in the family. Something needed to be done, someone did it. Maybe it was this way back in the day…ITS NOT BACK IN THE DAY… Seriously if you have to treat your spouse like a child, you may want to rethink your whole relationship.

(note this includes families where everyone lives in the same house – those where one parent usually only has custody on weekends could be an exception for a schedule off appointments/classes)