Who wears the pants?

[JDan]

I'm older than a lot of fathers here, but we grew up with the expression, "Who wears the pants in the family?" With us, I wear the pants for certain jobs I enjoy doing. My wife wears the pants for jobs she enjoys doing. For the other jobs, we tend to talk it out and take turns. What term do younger folks use for designating the boss of the house?

 

[wilson]

We share the pants! It is the only way that we can survive in the marriage after this long and keep things happy. Now sometimes we still bicker but overall it leads for a good time with both of us.

 

[SoontoBe]

Wilson, I'm having a good little chuckle picturing you and your wife trying to squeeze into one set of pants. It doesn't help that I'm picturing Tom Hanks and Wilson from the "Castaway" movie at the same time. You sound like you two have a good marriage.

 

[Blended]

We pretty much use the same expression for this although we still consider ourselves young. My wife pretty much wears the pants around the house because she is the one taking care of it. I on the other hand am in charge of other things.

 

[Bobby]

In our house we kind of share the pants. For instance, I am in charge of deciding what needs to be done in terms of home improvements and repairs and then taking care of them, but she is in charge of making sure we can afford it before I start.

 

[Victor]

I'm mostly in charge, but I think that's just because my wife is really easygoing for the most part. If she weren't, we'd probably fight a lot.

 

[jason]

I wear shorts mostly, and the wife will wear jeans more then I do.

In all seriousness though, I typically handle money/home repairs/yard work. The wife does the kids and cooks.

 

[Babar]

I don't think that there should be one "boss" of the roost. You and your lady should work together as a team while still respecting each other's strengths and weaknesses.

 

[Lorenzo]

My wife and I take turns in "wearing the pants." There are just things that she knows better like the household budget and the kids. I take charge of the cooking and repairing anything broken. It's a give and take because we're a team

 

[encryptedbytes]

Like others who have already posted here, the pants are pretty much shared in our house. For the most part the duties are divided up, we each have our own set of responsibilities, but we often help each other out and collaborate on responsibilities not "owned" by one person or the other.

 

[Sinbian]

I wear the pants in our house! I only wish that my wife would realize that. Jokes aside, we are very relaxed about that, but when times get rough she relies on me more than I on her. I guess that is how it should be and it does feels good being the head and protector of the family.

 

[Victor Leigh]

I wear the pants and I also get to take down her pants. Just kidding. I am in charge when I am home. When I am out, she is. She's supposed to be the second-in-command, isn't she?

 

[Don]

I would say that neither one of us wears the pants, but that makes it sound like we live in a nudist colony. We have a division of duties and then we have stuff that we share. As an example, I handle most of the yard work and she makes sure the bills get paid. We both cook, however, and we split carpool duties depending on which one of us is working when.

 

[joeldgreat]

We both wears the pants on the things that we knows best. My wife before usually wears the pants in the kitchen, but when I've learned the in's and out's of it, I too wears the pants very often. When it comes to decision, I usually have the last decision. But now, my wife oftentimes had the decision made for herself without consulting me. That is if she knew that I would agree to that decision. With more than 15 years of us living together, it doesn't matter anymore who wears the pants. Exceptions would be when making the tough decision like changing the schools for my kids, and matters that involves huge amount of money.

 

[JRDeep]

I hold my own sometimes. If you ask her, the wife says she wears the pants when it comes to everything. I like to just grin and let her be all inaccurate about that.

 

[writer811]

Even though I prefer my women without pants (Or underwear) I go by a sharing system. I get the final say in certain areas (Like education and discipline) and she gets the final say in certain areas (Like scheduling times and assigning chores).

 

[flfsurveyor]

I would like to think that I handle the major issues like should the USA bomb Iran, or what to do with the strategic oil reserves in the event of invasion, or even, should non-resident Aliens be allowed into public school system. All the other minor domestic issues, my wife handles. Joke!

I wear the pants! (and I have my wife's permission to do so)

Kidding aside, its been pretty much a shared responsibility and burden. Major life-changing decisions like schools, my next job assignment (i get assigned overseas), house purchase, car purchase, other big-bucks items, we discuss thoroughly. For week's menu, kid's schools schedule, medical issues and the like, my wife is very capable.

 

[Foster]

In my house I wear the pants, unfortunately my wife is in control of the zipper.

We are much the same as you JDan, 50/50 most of the time.

 

[BigDaddy]

Id say we both wear shorts. I bring home the bacon and she keeps the home fire burning.

 

[taskeinc]

We share the pants! It is the only way that we can survive in the marriage after this long and keep things happy. Now sometimes we still bicker but overall it leads for a good time with both of us.

I agree 100%. I think the whole, "wearing the pants" debate is baseless because in today's world, with the advancements women have made (deservedly so) and the laws that protect women (deservedly so) a guy places himself in a no-win situation when he starts to talk about who wears the pants. Because if you ever face the misfortune of having to deal with divorce and custody, usually the judge strips those pants right off of you. You leave the courtroom pant-less, azz out, with little to no money.