A Rant on Stereotypes

I am attempting to plow through the paperwork required to reregister Brennan and Griffin for daycare next year. As part of the student information sheet, the form asks I fill in name, employment and contact information for each parent. In the slot for the mother’s information, the form requests the mother’s cell phone and home phone. In the slot for the father’s information, the form requests the father’s cell phone and work phone.

How in the hell would the daycare center get in touch with me at home when I am at work? Why is it they assume the mother should be contacted either at home or via cell, while the father has the option of a work contact? And is it wrong that this annoys me so very much?

I am just as annoyed by Aidan’s school and the whole “homeroom mother” label. Why is it this is a post geared for mothers and not fathers? Is there a reason we can’t call it the “homeroom parent”? (I swear, I am going to sign Chris up to be the homeroom parent some year just to make a point of it. Yes, I probably will end up doing most of the freakin’ work, but it’s the POINT of it.) I refuse to call myself Aidan’s homeroom mother. I am a homeroom PARENT. Perhaps the fathers would be more willing to sign up for the job if we dropped the whole “mother” requirement.

It also offends me how some of the volunteer coordinators at Aidan's school bend over backwards when Chris signs up to volunteer because he is the father, and therefore, he is busy with important work things. We even had a mother who left a message on our home phone apologizing for changes in a volunteer schedule that affected Chris. The gist of her apology was she did not realize when she made the changes that he was the dad, and not the mom, and therefore, he must be busy working and thus, much more inconvenienced.

I resent the implication that school and the navigation of school responsibilities is solely women’s work. It only reinforces traditional gender stereotypes, instead of reflecting the reality of today’s world. I work. My husband works. We both volunteer at school. I may be more involved since I work part time, but we are both involved.

Isn’t it time the labels and forms and attitudes of schools evolved? Am I just making too much of all of this?