God, who cares.

I think all marriages have to do this! I certainly did with my husband, and we don't have kids.

I love the first family. They're young parents with their household in line. Their daughters know just how to handle themselves properly.

And Barack and Michelle seem so in love and respectful of each other.

My husband, although raised by a working mother, had no idea how much I did around the house when I only worked 3 days a week. He thought the other two days were play days. When I started working full time, he figured it out and has certainly stepped up. Even in this post-post feminist world, I know so many moms who stay home with sick kids, even though they work and earn nearly what their husbands make. The childcare/ running a household dilemma with two working parents is tricky and requires a lot of negotiation.

Yes and that is why I wash the dishes and he puts them away

i do the laundry, and he puts the clothes away

@phillyeagles1-people care because:

1. he is the president
2. gender roles, work, and childcare and relationships affect pretty much everyone in society
oh and
3. grow up

anyway, the pres and his wife are adorable and totally realistic. i have never lived with a partner before but if i did, i know that making housework and childcare equitable or at least agreeable to both parties would more likely help the relationship and lead to less resentment.

Sloane-
There is more to worry about in the world then the presidents marriage. Say healthcare reform.

What are you talking about grow up? I have an opinion and I stated that i didn't care about his marriage.

I can tell you are a left winger who is having a love affair with the president and can't take anybody saying anything somewhat "negative" about him. YOU grow up

All relationships should be like this.

This is pertinent to any happy household. My husband and I split chores depending on how stressful our jobs are going. When he was working and had mandatory overtime, I picked up some of his chores to make it easier. When I"m under deadlines or he's laid off, he picks up more of the chores. It's a constantly shifting line between who does what - if it was rigid, I'm sure there would be resentment.

Philly - who said anything about being a left-winger or love affair. Regardless if you voted for him, you're stuck with him as your president. Many people are interested in how the relationship of the (any) president works. If you think it's hard to balance family and work in your life, try being president. Seeing your comments about the polls showing a majority in favor of a public health option, I think you may have a strong dislike of the Obama administration, which is preventing you from objectively evaluating anything related to him or the current administration. It's one thing to disagree with someone on something, but another thing to let it become a bias against anything related to that person.

Actually Yoga,
I don't have anything against Obama. I like to see things from all sides. I am just not interested in his family life nor do I think it is important. I just want to know facts and figures. Regardless of which political side.

My bad then - sorry to assume that. Guess we'll learn more about you as you comment more on here.

"I can tell you are a left winger who is having a love affair with the president and can't take anybody saying anything somewhat "negative" about him. YOU grow up"

What in the ignorant hell?

My political feelings about our current administration aside, I do like to hear about the personal life of our President and his family. They have to strike a balance between keeping private things private and being a role-model family for young people who are coming of age during his term(s) in office. Negotiating changing gender roles and expectations is something that all couples who hope to last must take care of early on in their relationship.

phillyeagles1- no i can't take the IDIOTIC hostility and negativity from right wingers agaisnt the president for NO F**KING REASON any longer. if this story was written about george w. bush, who i can't stomach, and his wife, i would think it's positive because it encourages people to rethink set gender roles and work out a situation which is amenable to both parties and thus preserve marriages, which if you didn't notice are breaking up at a rate of 50% in this society. you grow up.

@spacekat- i love you, lol.

All I said is that I could care less about his family life. I dont care if he is republican/democrat or whatever the hell. You take it to heart when you shouldn't bc you feel it offends you in some way being a liberal. It was not meant to offend YOU.

Who are you to say I should "grow up" when I am perfectly entitled to not care about the presidents personal life. SHEESH

"I can tell you are a left winger who is having a love affair with the president and can't take anybody saying anything somewhat "negative" about him. YOU grow up "

really, that little diatribe wasn't meant to be personally offensive. and don't assume what does or doesn't offend me because of my political sensibilities. i found your original post ridiculous because it sounded immature and petulant, and i would have thought that no matter WHAT my political beliefs were. the president is a public figure and sorry if it hurt your little right wing eyes or ears, his personal life is GOING to be discussed.

oh i meant, really, that little diatribe wasn't meant to be personally offensive?

Obvs you were offended or you wouldn't have told me to grow up and keep going on about it. Point is, I made a simple comment about who cares about his personal life and YOU have the nerve to tell me to grow up. Many americans feel the same way as I do and do not care about his marriage.

(I apologize about my lefty comment)

Also, see what I wrote to Yoga. I do not have a problem with Obama. I like to know facts and figures. And I am weary of polls and opinions.

So try not to bite my head or others heads off at the drop of a hat. Thank you and goodbye.

Philly, I don't know if you're married, but I don't think you are. If you were, you're realize that this is a topic that affects pretty much all couples. It's nice to see the Obamas struggling with the same issues the rest of us do.

If you're apathetic, that's cool. It's how I feel when someone might talk to me about, say, a game with the Philadelphia Eagles. But, I don't go to sports threads and tell people that their likes are stupid and irrelevant. We all have different concerns, right?

It just irks me when people discuss non-crucial issues about the political family.. like what Michelle Obama is wearing these days. I guess I felt that this fell under that category.

I don't think if you enjoy that kind of thing that you are stupid. I was not trying to be negative about the prez. Just that his life was not on the forefront of my interests. Sorry if it came across any other way.

All these personal attacks are getting really old and it's making reading and contributing to this site far less fun.

I care about discussing gender roles with my partner, but I don't care about gender roles in relation to the first family.

Sloane, you start a lot of needless fights on here. Your opinion is not the only one that matters. Everyone is free to "speak" on here whether you agree with them or not.

When I read this post, I thought of the story more as a gender role piece, not a president's family piece. If anything, his position brings more light to this matter, which is often swept under the rug. So good for him. One almost never hears of men/husbands/boyfriends discussing gender roles and the burdens women still bear in the home whilst also working.

I think it's unsettling for a lot of folks to have a First Lady in the spotlight again. Oh well!

i'm over the Obama's family trying to relate to everyone. Just do your job as a president and leave the whole family related matters to yourself. Seriously, no one cares about the presidents personal life like what he likes, how he raise his children. It should be focus on him and the country... someone else can do the task of going over how to raise kids and whatnot. Unbelievable!