So Old School You're No School

When it comes to our family we have really run the gamut of roles, from one extreme to the other.  I often joke with my wife that when we first got married she was supposed to be my sugar mama.  She owned her own successful business at the time and that is what allowed me to go back to university and then eventually on to seminary.  I did do some teaching during those years but was able to do it from home.  The way that our schedules worked out I was often able to be home to do most of the cooking and share in a lot of the domestic responsibilities.  Well here we are, about six years later, and we find ourselves in the reverse position.  It is my salary that is the primary income while Kim has opted to stay at home with our four children.  We actually made the decision to home school our kids a number of years ago and so we really are at the other end of the spectrum in some regards.  We do, however,  still manage to share some of the domestic responsibilities.  I actually really enjoy cooking for example and do it a few times a week.  So even though I am a bit lazy, and hate to do laundry, I don't totally leave everyone else hanging, and most importantly, should Kim have to be away for any reason, the rest of us won't starve or have to go naked.  I am thinking about this because of a story about my Grandpa I heard today.  In all honesty, it made me laugh, but then I realized that I don't know whether it should make me laugh or cry...probably both.
My Grandparents have always had a fairly traditional arrangement with a fairly clear cut division of responsibilities.  My Grandpa was the primary bread winner, although my Grandma did work outside the home at some points.  My Grandpa meticulously managed the finances (OK, some would say anally - but we could probably learn something) raising a family of five, owning a home and a cottage on a single police officer's salary.    I always saw him as strong - one who chopped all his own wood, handy - always able to do his own building, repairing, plumbing etc,  and overall very capable.  The one area that was not his, however, was the domestic responsibilities.  My Grandma did all the cooking and cleaning etc.   This became strikingly clear after the story I heard today.  Today, I was visiting my Grandma in the hospital when she mentioned that my Grandpa must be going crazy at home by himself.  She has been in the hospital for over two weeks, which has been much longer than any of us would have predicted, leaving my Grandpa alone at home for longer that we would have expected as well.  My aunt and uncle live quite close and so are able to check in on him and have him over etc. so he won't starve or anything, which is a very good thing.  My Grandma told me that yesterday they brought him down to the hospital to visit and while he was sitting in her room they noticed that he was struggling with the lid to his Tim Horton's coffee.  He couldn't figure out how to get the flap open.  My aunt asked him what he did every time they went to McDonald's for coffee (which is a part of my Grandparent's weekly routine), at which point he could only look over to my Grandma.  He has never actually opened his own coffee as my Grandma had always done it for him!  My Grandpa has been so Old School that he was No School without my Grandma.  
Koodos to my Grandpa, he has learned how to open cans and cook a meal over these last few weeks proving you are never too old to learn new tricks.  I imagine there has been a lot of "Farting Donkey" exclamations (the closest thing to an expletive that I have ever heard him speak) but I digress...  It has got me thinking however, that there is something to cooking a cleaning.  So guys, no matter what situation you may find yourself, or what you think of gender roles or responsibilities etc.  a bit of cooking and cleaning is always a good thing.  No one will ever think of you as less masculine when you can peel back the flap of your own Tim Horton's coffee cup.