It certainly is a parental core competency to care for a family, but culturally, many people still believe that “caring for a family” means cooking, scrubbing, vacuuming, lunch packing, weeding, and laundry, in addition to the emotional work of nurturing children’s brains and souls. For years, all these labors have been roped into the job description of “mom” or occasionally “dad.” But does it make you a better parent to stand there in the kitchen every morning packing elaborate lunches that will get soggy when $2-3 for the hot school lunch would suffice? Is that really what kids need? Or do
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