A few days ago my sister, my little one, and I were passing through the dollar section of Target when I heard something that made me laugh. But then the more I thought about it, the more I wondered if it was actually funny or rather on the offensive side. I told the story to my mom, her friend and my aunt but neither of them found it offensive, but more as a fact. I’m wondering if it’s because they’re of an older generation. I’d like to see what your thoughts are on this matter, so let me recount what happened:

A child, maybe about 2 or 3 years old, is sitting in the shopping cart pointing at something he wants from one of the dollar bins at Target. The father is trying to figure out what his son is pointing at by holding items up within the proximity of his aim. As I passed him, I saw him holding up a plastic truck. That clearly wasn’t it, because I heard him say, “This one? You want this one?” a few more times before he said, “You want this? No, this isn’t a toy, this is for mommy when she wants to clean the pots and pans and dishes.”

Upon hearing that, I chuckled and shook my head. My sister said that the only reason it’s funny to me is because I don’t ever do the dishes and am probably the only person who has a husband that does it. I don’t think I’m the only exception. I’d like to think times have changed! In my mother’s generation it was expected of the wife to cook, clean and do all the in between while the husband worked. With so many wives and mothers also working, isn’t a comment like that offensive? Stereotypical? Is the father sending the wrong message to his child who represents the future generation? I’d love to know what you think! Am I wrong? Or, in this day and age, are we somewhere in between the past and the present?