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When Anne Stevens wakes up at 4:15 a.m. to exercise, her husband, Bill, makes coffee and breakfast for her. She leaves the house at 6:15, heading for the firing line of Ford Motor's turnaround effort. As head of North American vehicle operations, she is under severe pressure to reduce costs and raise quality at the 29 manufacturing plants in her division. While she's doing battle, Bill is home tending the gardens, running errands, managing the social calendar, planning the weekend, and playing golf. When Anne gets home, Bill is waiting. Okay, not with her slippers and newspaper and pipe. But he does have dinner on the table. He's capable of a killer beef Wellington, though on weeknights he keeps things simple, with chicken or pasta salad. Although he'd love some scintillating conversation, he usually lets Anne flop in front of Wheel of Fortune or Jeopardy! and fall asleep. "We have a good arrangement," says Bill. "Anne works her tail off during the week. The weekends are our time.... I am the domestic executive assistant."

This may seem like an unusual situation-except that a similar day begins at Dawn Lepore's house outside San Francisco. As she dries her hair, husband Ken brings her a cup of coffee and asks if she'd like a banana. Then Ken fixes breakfast for 4-year-old Andrew and gives 5-month-old Elizabeth a bottle. Andrew blows his mom a kiss as she leaves for her job as vice chairman of Charles Schwab.