Family dynamics can be a tricky one to balance. Traditionally it would be the woman would give up her career to become a mother & ‘housewife’, she’d cook, clean, wash, iron & tend to the families needs. The ‘man of the house’ would go to work to support his family by earning money to keep a roof over their heads, food on the table & clothes on their back.
However in recent years, things have changed. Now it’s not out of the ordinary for the woman to be the ‘breadwinner’ & for men have taken on a much more hands on approach to raising children. I know my father-in-law had changed two nappies in his life despite having three children, however his son aka Mr The Home That Made Me probably changing over three per day!
Part of Indesit’s ongoing ‘Big Family Switch Up’ campaign is for 16 families from across the UK, France, Italy & Russia to be challenged to switch roles for a week.
The main goal was to unite families, make them realise how much each other do & ultimately to become a family who #doittogether.
The campaign was set in a video series headed up by the lovely Giovanna Fletcher, which you can watch here.
The four families featured so far begins with the Mansfield family with dad Nick, mum Alayna with their kids Jessica, Taylor & Blaze. They live the typical traditional family as mentioned above with Alayna doing all the housework & childcare whilst Nick goes to work as a builder. As part of the challenge, they swapped roles for 7 days with Nick taking over the household tasks such as taking the kids to school, cooking, cleaning, washing & so on whilst Alayna had the job of the DIY. At the end of the video, Alayna decides that she wants to go back to her ‘normal’ jobs as block paving & changing light bulbs were a tad out of her remit. Nick seemed to embrace his new role & offers to take on more around the house to help support her in the future.
Next on the list is the Adenle family who claim that they share the responsibilities around the house 50/50 but are self-proclaimed ‘set in their ways’. Dad Yemi was in charge of the ironing & putting the bins out but that all changed during the challenge & he was tasked with cooking dinners & the kids bedtime routines which he soon realises is easier said than done when son Louis isn’t playing ball. He admits that it was “a lot harder than I thought”.
The Wardle Family from East Sussex consists of dad Chris, mum Louise & their two kids Daisy & Poppy. Both parents work full time however they are lacking in balance as Louise takes on the majority of the housework due to being a self-confessed control freak. She’s a girl after my own heart & probably the family I can relate to the most (she even states tidy house, tidy mind!) so taking part in this campaign meant that Chris had to take over whilst she spent more time with her daughters. The biggest challenge of all was for Louise to relax & let go. I think a lot of my readers & followers could relate!
Finally it’s the Johnson family who again are fairly traditional in that mum Michelle keeps things in order around the house. Dad Roy works long hours & likes to keep fit which means he’s not around much & does admit that he does “everything for himself & not much for them” although does take charge of the gardening. They claimed that mum does 80%, dad 10% & the kids 5% each. During the week long challenge, Roy took charge of the housework whilst Michelle tackles the garden & spent time with the kids. At the end, he admitted that it had been a lot harder than he thought & he’d definitely come to realise just how much Michelle does around the house….a new found level of appreciation & respect!
The conclusion video for all four families above can be found here which details how the families have changed since the challenge & if they’ve fallen back into their old ways.
So how do the Valentine family compare?
Joe works full time in a stressful job within the banking sector whilst I work from home as a blogger & freelance writer. We have two very young children so apart from a few hours a week childcare, I take on parental responsibility during the day. Evenings & weekends however I hand the job over to Joe who jokes that I’m no longer a mum after 6pm.
If you had asked me a year ago, I would have said that I was very much like the Wardle family, I was obsessed with keeping our home immaculate to the expense of everybody around me, including my two little ones. Mr The Home That Made Me tended to slack off when he got home from work & our split was probably 80/20, although he’s always been a brilliant & very hands on father.
Fast forward through last years health scare, my eyes have been opened to the fact that ‘life is too short’ & I’m definitely less consumed with the need for a show home worthy house, however it’s been so ingrained in Joe’s head that he now can’t bear to go to bed without the cushions behind plumped or the sides being wiped before bedtime. During that difficult period, he stepped up to the plate to take on all responsibilities whilst I was unable to…since then he’s maintained that level & is actually (he’s going to love reading this….) probably better at me at keeping the house clean & tidy.
In terms of DIY (which never ends in this household..) I used to be the main do-er however Joe has overtaken me. I think he’s learnt that I can’t be trusted with putting together flat-pack furniture unless you want something that falls apart after a month or squeaks constantly. I also definitely shouldn’t be allowed to drill or nail into the wall unless you want half of it to come down with the frame (I blame these old Victorian walls personally). BUT when it comes to decorating I am your lady; paintbrush in hand is where I excel.
Whilst Elsa & Rory are still very young, we try to encourage them to take part in our daily chores & routines by getting themselves dressed, tidying up the playroom, loading/unloading the dishwasher, putting things in the bin & so on. I think it’s so important to teach them the value of responsibility & independance.
So how would your family do? Would you say you’ve got a good balance or does the other half seriously need to pull their own weight? Indesit would love to hear so fill out the quick survey here.
Love,
*This is a sponsored post