How does this relate to the debate?
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| Wed, 08-20-2003 - 7:56pm |
Something occurred to me earlier and I wanted to see how others thought it might relate to the whole "which is harder SAH/WOH" portion of the debate that crops up so often.
I think that, when you look at either group *as a whole*, the WOHs might have it harder. And this is why ...
There are virtually no SAHMs who SAH because they "have to". There are virtually no SAHMs who are forced to SAH. A woman that SAH wants to SAH.(I'm sure there's a few exceptions out there; controlling dhs who MAKE their wives SAH, disabled children, etc) A woman that SAH doesn't hate her "job", or else she'd go get a WOH job. A woman that SAH is generally getting what she wants.
There are LOTS AND LOTS of WOHMs who WOH because they "have to". A single mom, or one whose dh doesn't make enough to support the family, or one with a disabled dh, whatever the case may be ... she may long, with all her heart, to SAH, but *can't*. Many WOHMs hate their jobs, but can't quit.
Anyhoo ... just wanted to stir up something new
Hollie

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I know what you mean about this and I think I would tend to agree when it comes to preschoolers and older, but this number of minutes must depend very much on the age of a child. If I just count time spent bf each child in the first year (neither were big on solids until they were nearly a year old), I would come up with about 4 hours per day (8x a day about a half-hour each time, Ds was a bit faster than that and dd was about that speed, and both really did nurse at least 8x per day until they were well over a year old). Add in diaper changing, carrying around (both wanted to be held constantly until they were over a year old) and the odd bit of play and I'd guess that it would come up to more like 6-8 hours. This time has definitely decreased now that they have gotten older and I think the time chunks are in minutes rather than hours, much as you were describing.
Laura
Hollie
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