Melania and Ivanka, Like All Moms, Will Excel at Multitasking

Define a great mom: She’s a master at multitasking. And American families will have two poised and capable women working on their behalf starting this week.

Like millions of other moms, Melania Trump and Ivanka Trump will juggle multiple duties to keep family a priority. In line with this, there may even be a name change for an old office: In the Trump administration, the Office of the First Lady is reportedly going to be changed to the Office of the First Family.

“I see it makes her [Melania] more like the rest of us — just being there as often as we can for everyone — spouses, parents and kids.”

If this is true, it may indicate a sharing of roles when it comes to First Lady duties. Changing this longstanding title may be a nod to how the Trumps will live out what many American families experience every single day: It takes a whole family’s compromise and engagement to make families and careers work. Spouses often must live apart to work and raise kids — with other family members stepping in as needed.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of couples who live apart has more than doubled since 1990. An estimated 3.5 million married couples live at different addresses for work obligations and other reasons.

Melania Trump is committed to raising her son, Barron, with as little disruption as possible, and will stay in New York until the end of the school term so that the 10-year-old doesn’t have to switch schools mid-year.

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“My priorities are with my son, and I want to be a mother first,” she told Fox News’ Ainsley Earhardt in September. She is also concerned about bullying of all kinds, and has signaled this may be her signature issue as first lady.

Related: First Lady-Elect Puts Her Son First

“At first, I was taken aback that Melania wouldn’t be in the White House come January — I was thinking, ‘Isn’t being first lady important enough to move to D.C. for?’” a mom of two and school administrator in Floyd, New Mexico, told LifeZette. “But now I see it makes her more like the rest of us — just being there as often as we can for everyone — spouses, parents, kids. No matter how much money you have, no one can replace you as a mother, wife, daughter.”

Ivanka Trump, meanwhile, appears poised to take a more major role in the White House. On Wednesday she announced a leave of absence from The Trump Organization as well as from her fashion business, saying she wants to work to help level the corporate playing field for women entrepreneurs.

She has also reportedly spent time calling members of Congress to engage support for tax-free child care accounts and child care tax deductions for those making under $500,000 a year, Fox reported. She is also a wife and mom to three small children, and they are a priority in her life — more juggling.

Related: Designers Should Be Proud to Work for Melania Trump

With Melania Trump living at least part-time in New York City, Ivanka Trump may pinch-hit for her in the White House. This is not a new idea in handling First Lady roles; when Jackie Kennedy was away, President John F. Kennedy’s mother or sisters acted as hostess.

“Anything they do will be done with thought and care.”

Thomas Jefferson often had his daughter, Martha, entertain when he was president, and Martin Van Buren relied on his daughter, Angelica. Harriet Lane served as hostess for her uncle, who was single — President James Buchanan. And if Bess Truman had to be away, the Trumans’ daughter, Margaret, entertained during the Truman presidency.

Whoever performs first lady roles, it will be done well. Doug Wead, who worked for President George H.W. Bush, said the Trumps are experts at event planning.

“You have this unusual situation where you have a president who doesn’t have political experience, but he has business experience. They will know how to entertain,” Wead told the Santa Monic Observer.

“Whoever handles what in the White House, whether it’s having a cocktail party or helping to write a bill, I would think that no one need worry that anything will be done without thought and care,” echoed the New Mexico teacher. “Melania Trump and Ivanka Trump are power players.”