Comments on: A Wife’s Work and a Young Man’s Too

By: ioana lopez

ioana lopez — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 18:42:06 +0000

yeah right try being married to a mexican with 2 babyies. I have no time to even epilate at least the bottom part of my legs, or to even wax my mustache. Just attending to the kids takes all day. when im done with one, the other needs attention and back and forth all day. Got no time for cooking or cleaning. And the worst of all is that my husband sais i do nothing all day and the house is a mess and is always complaining. And cuz he cleans half of the house once a week he sais he does all the cleaning, which is my job. Gosh, I feel so desperate and trapped, as much as i love him sometimes i think i hate him even more. Its not fair. He comes home and hangs our with his brother, watches tv……and i go to bed at 1am, exhousted, and the truth is that i havent done anything all day…..nothing that u can see….Am i the only one out there so stressed and overwroked….thigs wouldnt be so bad if i didnt have him complaning all the time….

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 21:17:26 +0000

Doing some housework—cooking and cleaning the kitchen—has always been a reassuring ritual for me. Charlie does learn somewhat by example and he’s definitely interested in what goes on in the kitchen.

Shopping used to be onerous when Charlie was younger, too bit to sit in the cart, and needed constant, constant supervision (how many packs of chicken or ground meet did he poke a finger at). I used to just try to get home a few minutes earlier, race to the store, race home. Now shopping is part of a very pleasant routine and Charlie’s helping out is a big part.

Things have only been “better” for me, after having a child……

By: Regan

Regan — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 21:11:48 +0000

It’s the division of labor thing, especially if the mother also has an equivalent job outside the home. It takes 2 to tango.

Housework isn’t “bad” and actually is kind of expected in order to get on, but it’s not particularly valued in this society. I think there was a calculation a few years ago that figured out what a “housewife” would earn if paid on a professional basis. It was alot more than one might think.

By: Marla

Marla — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 21:09:34 +0000

I really can not complain. Joe does almost all of the cooking and grocery shopping. We pick up what the other person does not like doing. It is nice to have a balance like that. I tend to do more house work but it tends to even out in the end.

By: VAB

VAB — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 20:44:13 +0000

“situation gets worse for women when they have children,”

What I can’t understand is why this is “worse.” I assumes that working in the house is bad and more work in the house is worse. Would more work outside the house also be considered “worse?”

Being a parent involves a lot of all different kids of work, but I don’t know that it is a bad thing.

By: Regan

Regan — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 20:03:50 +0000

Good for Charlie, and good for you .

Eleanor is my right hand girl. If everyone in the family was as neat and helpful as her, it’d be smooth sailing.

(As far as men–I don’t know how Jim is, but my big guy is a spoiled mama’s boy–if there was actual mud on the walls I doubt if he would notice. But he’s fussy about the state of his BBQ–go figure.)