A Michigan mom’s viral Facebook post is making a case for teaching little boys to cook and clean.
Earlier this month, Nikkole Paulun posted photos of her 6-year-old son, Lyle, helping with chores like laundry, dishes and cooking at home.
In the caption for the photo, Paulun explained that she teaches Lyle to cook and do chores “because household work isn’t just for women.”
The mom listed many other reasons why she wants her son to learn these skills:
“Because one day he might be a single man, living on his own, who will actually know how to do laundry and not eat take out every night. Because one day he might want to impress a significant other with a meal cooked by his own hands. Because one day when he has kids and a spouse, he’s going to need to do his fair share around the home. Because I live in a generation of people who complain that school didn’t teach us how to cook, do laundry, tie a tie, or pay taxes. Because teaching my son how to do these things and be a productive member of society both outside the home and inside, starts with ME. Because it’s okay to let your child be a child but still teach them lifelong lessons along the way.”
Paulun added that she wants these lessons to shape the kind of person Lyle grows up to be.
“My son will never be too ‘manly’ to cook or do chores,” she wrote. The mom also challenged the gender stereotypes that divide everyday tasks ― relegating women to chores like cooking and cleaning and men to more mechanical work.
“[My son] will be the kind of man who can come inside from changing a tire to check on his pot roast. Who can properly sort his laundry and mow the lawn too,” she wrote. “Remember parents, a man who believes he shouldn’t have to cook or do chores was once a boy who was never taught any better.”
The pointed Facebook post received over 140,000 likes and 56,000 shares.
Paulun, who appeared on season two of MTV’s “16 And Pregnant,” followed up in the comments section with a photo of Lyle on the couch.
”And he relaxes after his chores with some video games,” she wrote.
Paulun also has a 1-year-old daughter named Ellie. One commenter inquired if the mom would teach Ellie and any future daughters, “to do yard work, change a tyre and now the lawns [sic]” or if her stance against gender stereotypes “only goes one way.”
She replied that her daughter will learn to do those things but is currently too young. “They’re raised seeing me do both since I’m a single mother,” she added.
In response to criticism that she was raising her child to be servile, Paulun stated, “I enjoy and do the majority of the housework. My son just helps along the way and earns allowance as well.”
This is what 2016 parenting is all about.
Related
Before You Go
