Lately, I’ve gotten a lot of “Moms are always last, aren’t we?” or “Moms do it all.” And frankly, I don’t. I just manage the kids.

When Chris and I started dating, we talked a lot about family responsibilities and how we would split it based on our strengths and work schedules at the time. I switched jobs to be on the same schedule as the kids, so I became the kid’s secretary, ultimately. I take care of scheduling appointments, signing them up for their extracurriculars, inputting all their activities, practices, and programs into our shared family calendar, and letting grandparents know when they have special events. If there’s conflicts, I make sure the right kid is taken to the right thing.

Chris takes care of the finances, meal planning, grocery shopping, car/camper maintenance, and housework. Now, we all do our part in keeping the house clean, but in the end, Chris does far more than the rest of us. If something breaks, Chris fixes it. The routine car maintenance, Chris takes care of (with 4 vehicles, this happens often). Couponing, finding the sales and deals, is all him. I don’t have the patience to look into it all, but he does. The endless loads of laundry for a family of 7? Chris keeps moving. The endless battle of dirty dishes? Chris washes.

I may have the “job” that everyone sees because it’s the kids and they’re extremely hard to miss, but Chris is the one that keeps everything up and running behind the scenes.

We are curious to know how things are split in other families, so let us know!