Well, ok, the title of this post is a lie.
When we were both gainfully employed, we shared the housework. I handled the cat litter, dawn does the grocery shopping, and we took turns cooking.
When I was unemployed, I increased my share of the housework accordingly.
As of this writing, dawn is unemployed and does all the housework.
Not every M/s couple structures their lives this way, but this way is our choice. Our first preference would be for me to work and dawn to stay home cooking, cleaning, and tending to my whims. But because I like having the economic freedom that comes from both of us having paid employment, I choose that dawn work outside the home. When she is not employed, though, there is no question as to who has responsibility for the housework. And if things change such that I am no longer employed, then I will put on an apron and do my share; you can call me “Mr. Mom” (or Master Mom, as the case may be!). This division of household labor has nothing to do with us having a valid power exchange relationship; it has everything to do with us having a thriving relationship. But, to be honest, housework chores are but one aspect of dawn’s duties—she is also involved in taking care of the long, ever-expanding list of things we do, like scheduling our time, booking events, packing, taming our crazy calendar. My slave tends to, and is good at, these duties. She can be coy, or she can bite (in a kind fashion) as need be.
You may be thinking: “This is just normal relationship stuff, right?” Well, normal, healthy relationship stuff. This is the background. This is the foundation upon which we build our power exchange, a relationship of mutual respect. We understand that, although we may prefer that I didn’t have to work and could laze around while my slave pampers me and feeds me grapes, and the cat uses the toilet and flushes after himself, thank-you-very-much, our real world is not like that. And living M/s requires that we live in the real world, with our M/s lifestyle defining how we live in that world, as part of that world.
Dan
