Man's Work, Woman's Work Guest Post by Multi-Genre Author Robert Germaux

I’m welcoming multi-genre author Robert Germaux to the DIY Mom Blog today. Bob has several books, published on Amazon. He’s proven that he’s a versatile and entertaining author who’s comfortable writing in just about any genre. Bob also has a knack for writing about many things a lot of people can relate to.

Read on to find out Bob’s take on man’s work vs. woman’s work. I promise you that it’s definitely not how it sounds J

"Man's Work, Woman's Work" by Robert Germaux

You might get the idea that my wife does most of the cooking in the Germaux household, but you’d be wrong. Cynthia actually does all the cooking, and she has for a long time. The first two years of our marriage, I was already teaching, but Cynthia was still in college. Thus, she had more free time than I did. Plus, she loved preparing meals for her husband, and that husband loved eating those meals. It didn’t hurt that Cynthia was, and still is, a great cook. Her baked pineapple has achieved legendary status in my family and often tops the Most Requested category at holiday gatherings.

     After Cynthia graduated and embarked on her own teaching career, she suddenly had nowhere near as much free time, but she still continued to prepare all our meals, at least the ones we had at home. It wasn’t that I couldn’t cook. I lived in off-campus apartments my last few years in college, and my roommates and I took pride in cooking most of our dinners ourselves, including the occasional made-from-scratch dessert. BTW, I’m told I made a mean tuna noodle casserole back in the day.

Once both Cynthia and I were creating lesson plans, correcting papers, calling parents, attending faculty meetings, etc., we fell into a routine that pretty much set the tone for the rest of our careers and into retirement. Cynthia still did all the cooking, but on weekends, she often made enough chili or manicotti or corn pie or meat loaf or whatever to have leftovers during the week. Also, we’ve been fortunate enough to live in areas that have a wide variety of restaurants that serve good casual fare, so we often had an early dinner a couple days a week at those establishments. (And, actually, when you eat breakfast at 4:30, as we did when we were still working, dinner at four that afternoon isn’t really that early.)

Okay, I know it would appear that I was getting the better part of that deal, since I was still doing none of the cooking. And trust me, I’ve gotten by far the better part of the deal since the day I married Cynthia. But I do try to help. I’ve always done almost all the cleaning up after our meals, and Cynthia will tell you that I’m an excellent chef’s assistant in the kitchen, getting things out of the cupboard or refrigerator when she needs them, putting them away when she doesn’t, cleaning pots and pans when she’s finished with them. What cooking skills I once possessed all those years ago quickly went dark, as it were, due to a lack of practice, but I’m okay with that. Far more important, so is Cynthia.


We’re happy with the arrangement, just as we are in other areas of our lives. For instance, she doesn’t like to drive. I do. So I do most (not all) of our driving. Neither of us actually enjoys ironing, but it has to be done, so Cynthia irons her clothes and I iron mine, a skill I was lucky enough to learn at the age of fourteen. Another thing neither of us likes to do is yardwork, so we don’t. We’re able to pay people to mow our lawn in the summer, and the shrubs and bushes we have on our property are kept looking good by a guy who comes twice a year to fertilize, trim, etc.

Cynthia and I have never defined any kind of work as being something to be done by the man or woman of the house. The important thing isn’t who does what. It’s finding that balance that makes both parties happy. It’s been working for us for forty-nine years, so we may be on to something. But that doesn’t mean our balance would work for you and the other half of your relationship. The two of you are the ones (the only ones) to determine that. In the end, don’t think of any job as man’s work or woman’s work. It’s just work. Do it well and, if you’re lucky, maybe you’ll be rewarded with some of that baked pineapple.

Robert Germaux is offering free review copies of his latest book “More Grammar Sex”, which is not surprisingly about sex. In his usual offbeat, comedic fashion, Bob has compiled some of his favorite “thoughts on life's little moments, minor annoyances and unexpected delights.

ABOUT ROBERT GERMAUX

Both my parents were readers. I'm talking stacks-of-books-on-their-nightstands readers. So it's no surprise that an early age, I, too, became an avid reader. Everything from sports books (especially baseball) to Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, to almost anything about distant and exotic places. I've always enjoyed putting words on paper, but the writer in me didn't fully emerge until I retired after three decades of teaching high school English.

I quickly wrote two books aimed at middle school readers, at which point my wife urged me to try a novel for adults. As is usually the case, my wife Cynthia's idea was a good one. Over the next few years, I wrote several books about Pittsburgh private eye Jeremy Barnes, including "Hard Court" and the recently released "In the Eye." I also wrote "Small Talk" and "One by One," both featuring Pittsburgh police detective Daniel Hayes.

Along the way, I took a brief hiatus from the detective genre to write "The Backup Husband," the plotline of which came to me one day when I was playing the What-if game.

I then tried my hand at writing humorous essays, which resulted in "Grammar Sex (and other stuff)" and its sequel, "More Grammar Sex." Coming soon is "Small Bytes," the first Jeremy Barnes novel, to be followed by two other JB mysteries, "Leaving the LAW" and "Speak Softly."

I love interacting with my readers and getting their input on my stories and characters. Please feel free to contact me via my website roberttgermaux.wordpress.com.