Saturday, September 18, 2010

the next generation

So, the other day I was babysitting and the 6 year-old girl (child of a professor) who recently began watching the Brady Brunch she was explaining to me the family and how there were 3 girls and 3 boys and their parents and their house cleaner etc. Then she got this look of excitement on her face and said "the mom doesn't even have a job! " As we talked more she made it very clear that mom's always had jobs but this mom was special because she got to stay home and she got paid to do it (not true but that's what she thought). I asked Hannah if she thought that any of her friends had moms that didn't work and she looked at me funny and told me with certainty that all of her friends mom's had jobs and worked for a living. "what would they do if they didn't " was her response. While this is one girl in one small town in one classroom she was enchanted by the idea of a mother not working. So does this mean that there is a change in what the next generation thinks of what a "typical family" should look like? Or is it just a unique situation?

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