I thought I was sending my girls the right message. But now I’m not so sure.

Yesterday we had our annual family and friend reunion.

It was a day of  swimming

and feasting

and enjoying

and reconnecting

and laughing (when I sat in this chair and it totally broke).

As I was sitting and talking with some family and friends, one of the girls at the party came running over to the table.

She is seven years old.

“Quick! We need a MAN!” she said, out of breath.

I just looked at her.

“What?” I answered.

“WE NEED A MAN! TO FIX A PLUG THING!“

“Um, no you don’t,” I told her. “What exactly do you need?”

“Come with me! Quick!” she said.

We ran over to the Barbie Jeep, which was plugged into its charger.

“See? We need a man to unplug this!” she said.

“You do not need a man for this,” I told her. I opened up the hood of the Jeep, unplugged the charger and then joined both battery connectors together.

The little girl hopped in the Jeep.

“You do not need a man for anything!” I told her as she drove away.

Sure, it’s nice to have a male around.

You know, for sex.

And for the stuff we don’t feel like doing.

Like getting rid of the dead mouse in the hallway that the cat killed.

I leave that to my husband.

But if I had to do it, I could.

Have I sent that message to my daughters, though?

I want them to know they have all the tools they need to do anything.

And that if they don’t know how to do something, they need to figure out how to do it themselves.

Not depend on a man.

I do a pretty good job of leading by example.

They have seen me cut the grass and use a drill and paint furniture and change the tank on the grill.

But do they know that when I say Go ask Daddy, it’s out of laziness, and not my inability to get something done?

I’m not sure.

The kids all have jobs they are responsible for around the house every day.

I have been very careful to make sure the boys don’t view any of those clichéd tasks as “woman’s work.”

They wash dishes, fold laundry, dust, and vacuum.

But there are some jobs that have been assigned only to the boys.

Like putting the cover on the pool and making sure the Barbie Jeep and the fire truck and the tractor are plugged in each night.

Hmmm.

I thought I had the boys doing that because they were the oldest kids in the house.

But maybe I was wrong. Maybe I had them doing it just because they are boys.

I think I’m on course dispelling the “women’s work” stereotype here in the house.

I thought I was doing just as well in the opposite department.

Now I’m not so sure.

I guess I’ve got a chore chart to restructure, some stereotypes to break down, and three girls who need to learn how to plug in the Barbie Jeep.