Sing it, sister

My pregnant sister sent me the following email this morning:

I got an email today from Pregnancy Weekly. One of the links made me so mad I surfed for an appropriate message board and posted [a rant].

Here's the list that set me off:

Nice Things to Do for Mom To Be

Give her a foot massage and rub her back

Cook her favorite meal

Take her out to her favorite place to eat

Help her finish (or do it yourself and surprise her) decorating the nursery, especially if it needs to be painted or wallpapered

Throw her a baby shower

Take her to a movie or rent her favorites and bring them home

Take the kids out for a couple of hours so she can just relax

Help her out around the house so she doesn't have much to do

Do some last minute errands she might have

Take her away for the weekend or on vacation before the baby arrives (you might not be able to do this again for awhile)

Volunteer to help shop and prepare meals the first week the baby is home


My response:

HELP HER do housework? Cook meals the FIRST WEEK AFTER BABY IS BORN?? What is this - friggin Bewitched? I know our culture is not likely to break free from the basic chauvinistic principles upon which it was founded, but come on! This is supposed to be a site for modern moms. How can they honestly suggest that all housework, cooking, home decorating, etc. is solely the woman's responsibility? And women are supposed to be so bloody grateful if men magnanimously decide to "help us" prepare meals ONLY one week after we have a baby? I can't stand it. I surfed the Pregnancy Weekly website (yes, I am at work AWAY from the house) but couldn't access the message boards, nor could I find a way to contact the responsible parties directly. Argh! Wake up PW! It's the 21st Century! At 30 weeks pregnant, I know I may be hormonally charged, but honestly, I feel like mobilizing a mob. Knocked-up, Fed-up women of the world unite!

Yeah, what she said. I can't improve upon it. She's right and it's infuriating.