We all joke in our family that my sister can't cook and didn't learn everything us other kids learned from mom. My sister is the oldest and then there's a brother, another brother, then me. The second oldest child is and always was mediocre in his chore-ability. The latter two, myself and my brother I think are the more accomplished ones when it comes to cooking, running a home, etc. The other two, not so much. We all know it, but we just don't understand why it happened that way. Did mom just teach us a little better or did we actually care about house and home a little more?
I am not embarrassed at all that I can cook quite well if I want to or sew and create just about anything but I can as well tune up a car, change brakes, operate any tool and machinery out there. There's nothing wrong with breaking the heteronormative molds when it comes to household chores and responsibilities, but Nikkole Paulun found out that there are some haters out there. Some feel boys should be boys, girls should be girls, and kids should be kids.
This is what mom-of-two Nikkole Paulun from Monroe, Michigan wrote on Facebook recently. The post was accompanied by pictures of her 6-year-old son Lyle doing the laundry, loading the dishwasher, and cooking on the stove. It’s since been liked more than 143k times and shared by over 57k people, but while Paulun has received a lot of praise for attempting to destroy heteronormative stereotypes, she’s also received criticism for treating her children like “slaves.” The 22-year-old mom, who once appeared on MTV reality show 16 and Pregnant, defended her statements, but opinions seem to be divided. What do you think? – boredpanda.com
Here are a handful of the comments on Nikkole's post.
"Im all for teaching important lessons in life but you're being absolutely ridiculous here, and just after facebooks 'likes' let him be a child and more importantly a proper boy! Silly women"
Out of the 1,000 comments I searched through of the total 8,500+, there was only one that mentioned the word gay. I was expecting a lot more.
"Good for you . I'm the same with my kids girls do boy things – my boy has done chores since small ( age appropriate). Good job he wasn't brought up to rely on wife as it turns out he's gay . we disable children if we don't teach these skills . Many people like to keep them reliant on them for their own gain."
I am very thankful that my mother raised me the way she did, but I am as well thankful that I am a product of my parents for I feel I'm inquisitive and have a desire to learn and succeed like they do. There are times that you can teach a kid to do and care, but other times there may be limited success. But if a child is willing and able, they should learn.
We love it when mom's succeed and Nikkole, looks like you are doing great. Keep up the good work!
h/t: photos from boredpanda.com, distractify.com
No chore is intrinsically
No chore is intrinsically "male" or "female;" WE are the ones who assign genders to them. I live alone, I can cook, clean, do laundry, fix a sink, build furniture and do electrical work. I have never thought of any of those chores as being "male" or "female;" I think of them as being self-sustaining and good life skills to have.