Isn't it ironic?

Irony has once again reared its not-so-ugly head.

This afternoon, after arriving home from a day-trip into Boston to spend the day with a friend, I walk through the door to find Rich at the sink doing dishes. Our son is still napping. I talk with the quick pace of contentment and tell him about my day - eating breakfast at a Charles Street Cafe, taking a leisurely walk around the River, lounging at my friend's North End condo without a responsibility in the world but to comment on her new built-in closet storage system.

Then, I sift through the Sunday mess of ads and pick up the Boston Globe Magazine. My eyes are immediately directed to this article, "The Job Without Benefits."

It begins with the story of Susan Luongo, a 41-year-old business owner, wife and mother. Luongo, who runs a technology consulting firm and works up to 80 hours a week, earns twice what her husband, a systems analyst, makes.

"But she's still the one who usually picks up their 9-year-old son at his after-school program each day, comes home and makes dinner, does some laundry, helps her son with his homework, and gets him ready for bed," the article says.

It's about gender-equality, and how women who "have-it-all" and then some (all the women in the piece are the dominant breadwinners in the family), are their own worst enemies. Even though they demand a fair split of household duties with their husbands, they are resigned to doing it all themselves because, they claim, their husbands just aren't as good at it.

This part, I can understand. And what I mean is, I can understand this type of OCD. I can't tell you how many times I have rewashed a dish or monitored vacuuming or inspected folded towels in the linen closet to make sure the crease was facing out. But this article says that even when the women make more money - a rational men have used, it says, to get OUT of housework - household chores are still broken down by gender. "In other words, women do most of it."

It strikes me as almost funny, the timing of this piece, as my husband retrieves our son from his nap, then changes his diaper. Then he runs downstairs to put the laundry in the dryer. "Can I dry your new, red shirt?" he yells from the basement. Then he's back upstairs, putting away dishes. Then baking banana muffins - after all, they were too ripe for just regular eating. Then cooking a pizza for our son. Then cutting up chicken and chopping vegetables and boiling rice for our dinner. Seriously.

And this day is not an anomaly. Of course, weekends are. And during the week, I pick up more of the household slack than today, but certainly not ALL.

Of course, my situation is not like these other women. I don'work outside the home. And I DEFINTELY don't make twice what my husband does. But it gets me to thinking how lucky I am. That I married someone who doesn't subscribe to these gender roles. He bakes. I take out the trash. He makes dinner. I haul in some firewood. Other days, it's the exact opposite. And then there are days, like today, when super-dad does it all, and mom, who has "the job without benefits" kicks back, and really does nothing at all.

Thanks.