Why does some people think women at home
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Why does some people think women at home
| Sat, 06-07-2003 - 1:02am |
should do it all? I hear this and think why should a woman at home do every thing? Shouldn't it be whatever works? Shouldn't it be whatever floats the boat of the married couple? Confused on this thinking.
If you are home do you do it all? How does your DH or SO feel?
WOH do you do it all or do you split it? Do you do more or less since you WOH?
IQM

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So, I did some figuring, and this is what I came up with:
Using your estimation that kids are awake 12 hours per day.
Say the WOHP works a typical day of 8am - 5pm, with a one hour commute each way (not uncommmon in most areas), and are home the entire weekend.
Say the SAHP spends 3 hours each week either volunteering, working on a hobby, or whatever, and the WOHP does none of that.
I figure the WOHP would get about 3 1/2 to 4 hours with the children during the week. I am figuring that as 1 hour in the AM and 3 hours in the PM (from 6pm when WOHP gets home until a 9pm bedtime for the kids). That is 20 hours per week there. Added to the 24 hours of awake time a child has on the weekend, that would be 44 hours time with the WOHP.
I figure the SAHP with the child all 7 days, 12 hours per day, minus the 3 hours for whatever volunteer work. Now, this is assuming the children are not in school yet. That would come to 81 hours the SAHP has spent with the children.
So combined parental time spent with the children comes to 125 hours. The WOHPs portion of that is 35% and the SAHPs portion of that is 65% of that.
Yes, the SAHP is going to have more time with the children, but a lot of that time (41 hours or 51% of the total SAHPs time) is spent right along with the WOHP. They are BOTH there during that time.
Now, granted, this is very general and doesn't take into consideration everyones specific circumstances, but I would say it is a general starting point.
Okmrsmommy-36, CPmom to DD-16 and DS-14
dj
Dj
"Now when I need help, I look in the mirror" ~Kanye West~
dj
Dj
"Now when I need help, I look in the mirror" ~Kanye West~
Spending less time with parents isn't an issue as kids never have needed to spend all their time with us. Spending all day with mom is not superior to spending part of the day in dc and part of the day with mom and dad. What matters is that you have enough time not that you have all the time. So the reduction in total parent time isn't an issue when you're talking about reducing from an over abundance. Moms working could help in two ways. Dad might not feel so compelled to work long hours if she was home and it reduces the disparity in time spent with the kids between the parents. And if you work your schedules right, you can bake in some daddy solo time with the kids. In our case, dh is the parent on site every morning from the time the girls get up until he drops them off at dc. I happen to think that regularly occuring solo time is good for dads and kids. When you're the only parent present, you have no choice but to care for your kids. One thing I like about being a dual working couple is that the time our kids spend with parents is evenly split. There is no primary parent and secondary parent. Our kids just have two parents.
Dj
"Now when I need help, I look in the mirror" ~Kanye West~
And btw, I do know people who enjoy cleaning their houses.
You see, Cyndi also contends that parents need equal time with their children. Not just equal earnings...err, is it effort now? Therefore, her time with her children (as a WOHP) is sufficient because her spouse also WOH, but a WOHP with a SAH spouse needs to "make up" time to make it even. But since the SAHP is typically home in the evenings when the WOHP is as well, I guess her goal would be to see a SAHP disappear after the WOHP walked in the door. Completely weird. >>
Oh, I agree with you completely. Equal time at all costs, even if it means the kids are with neither the rest of the time.
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