Your Children Are SO Well Behaved

While I'm vegetating on this superbowl Sunday pre-game I was thinking about something parent related that I wanted to share. It's the sexism that is involved in parenting. I work about 50 hours a week as Director of Operations for a call center. My husband stays home and takes care of our children. If they are well mannered, kind, play well with others, etc, it's because of the time and energy that he has put into them. It's not that I don't parent, but frankly I'm not here that much. I'm at work. So when we are out at dinner and people come up to compliment ME on how well mannered our children are, at how they didn't even KNOW there will children near them because they were so quiet - well needless to say it's frustrating to him. Now there is no way that anyone should assume that he is responsible. But maybe they should compliment us BOTH. Aren't chances just as good that we dump them at a sitter all day and we BOTH work 80 hours a week so some random caregiver is responsible for their good behavior? Or, equally, even if we both did work outside the home, couldn't we both be good enough influences to have created well behaved children?
Why is it that by default MOM gets the compliment?
It's nice to get the compliment, but maybe, just maybe, we should compliment both parents.
Just a thought. (But thanks for the compliments, Scott has raised some pretty well mannered boys).