Equal Partners

2 Cor 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together

Men and women (in general)  have different temperaments.  Our children come with different temperaments as well.  Men tend to be a little on the disagreeable side and if the children are a bit disagreeable as well, Father's may be a bit avoidant to participate in certain routines. Disagreeableness or assertiveness help men leave the home and deal with workplace tasks.  Women tend to be on the more agreeable side, which can help with dealing with children without losing it. That said, it's still tough. 

Husbands and wives need to appreciate each other's temperaments and their pluses and minuses.   If both mom and dad are on the disagreeable side, it may be that having a bunch of disagreeable children to care for will be too much.  For agreeable parents with agreeable children, having 10+ may be a dream. The Church attracts agreeable people, but should be open an accepting to the disagreeable/assertive as well. Assertiveness has its value too. Also, agreeableness and assertiveness can be trained to a degree. 

In today's more equaltible culture, wives and husband might enjoy a more ideal and equal relationship.  Instead of dividing up the home tasks and waiting for Mom to tell Dad what needs to happen, Dad can be more involved and more cooperative in the family tasks.  Instead of looking at the efficiency of a division of labor, consider the synergy and and intimacy of working together.  Nurses in the hospital really come together as a team when they tackle the hard tasks together.  When there is a code brown, a great working team will all gather to make quick work of a dirty task. Also, working together is more fun.

If you can be a full partner and lift the household loads together, you might be surprised at how you and your spouse grow together.

Gen 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.