Typically, most husbands do not enter the kitchen except when the pipe leaks or the stove runs out of gas. Hardly any men would go to the kitchen to help the wives with the cooking or washing up. Not in this country. Nor in my family.
I was just talking to a few friends yesterday about this subject matter and we agree that actually they are not to be blamed. It's the way they have been brought up. In the old days boys were not 'trained' to be kitchen helpers. Only the girls were told to help out with the household chores. No, scrap that. We were actually been 'ordered' to! Hee....
In my younger days, we were given 'duties' of the household chores. Being brought up in a large family actually lessen the burden somewhat as each one of us was only given one daily chore. But brothers were excluded from the duty rosters. And somehow we never questioned the fact. I guess it sort of made sense to us that our mother would do the cooking and take care of the house while our father went out to work and 'bring home the bacon'.
But all that has changed now since both husbands and wives hold their own career. Regardless who has a bigger post or earn a higher salary, the household chores should be equal responsibility. Especially those without a maid in the house.
I read somewhere that even our beloved Prophet SWT help out in the kitchen when needed. Indeed he is the person that we all should use as reference and benchmark.
So, to all my friends who have boys in the house, do not forget to teach them from young that its 'cool' for them to give a helping hand and chip in every now and then with the household chores. Better still, give them daily chores even if you have maids in the house. Get rid of the notion that men don't belong in the kitchen. Help them to bring down the ego as the 'king of the house' a notch or two. Hee...
There you go. To all mothers, if you can change the future men's behaviour and attitude, you can change the world!
Cheers!
a mother of one student came to tell me that her daughter is dropping the home science paper and will skip attending the classes for that paper. she told me without any shame her daughter cannot sew simple stitch and even cannot light-up the stove. the mother sound so bold with no regrets. i am very upset with her attitude.
ReplyDeleteThings are different from our days kan Noi? We used to enjoy homescience and our parents hardly ever interfere in what the school decided for us.
DeleteSome parents probably didnt think the basic skill of stitching up a lose button or cook a simple scramble egg for breakfast is important for their daughter to know. What ashame. To me all children should know that regardless their gender. It's a handy skill to have.