Sunday, August 21, 2005

Are Housework and Mowing The Lawn Equal?


I did a little investigating ( after having an issue this weekend with my fiance) and would also like your guys' opinions on this, and for all my blogger friends out there , ask your hubby or signifigant other his or her opinion too please! Here are a few facts I found online about households that have 2 full time working parents who have had the same issue I did this weekend...


Work & Family Challenges
Housework

Housework is a major issue for dual-earner couples and single parents struggling to balance the multiple demands of both work and family.
Families must confront two issues related to housework in their efforts to balance work and family. First, they must decide what or how much needs to be done. Second, they must decide who will do it.
The first question may seem simple. Think about the following question, however. When doing housework, how do you know when you have done an adequate job?

Housework is a major issue for dual-earner couples and single parents struggling to balance the multiple demands of both work and family.
Families must confront two issues related to housework in their efforts to balance work and family. First, they must decide what or how much needs to be done. Second, they must decide who will do it.
The first question may seem simple. Think about the following question, however. When doing housework, how do you know when you have done an adequate job?
There are no clear-cut criteria for a job well-done. You can always think of something else to do or something that could be done better.
Therefore, many people devote more time and energy to housework than is necessary. They do it better than it needs to be done. This takes away from the time and energy they could devote to their spouse, children, job or self.
This is particularly true for women. Many women still receive and are vulnerable to messages that reinforce the traditional idea that the appearance of their house says something about them as a person.
The key to resolving this problem is for family members to consciously place housework within their own family's unique system of priorities. If they decide that taking the children to the park or devoting extra time to an important work project rank higher, they shouldn't feel guilty if the end result of their housework does not meet some vague, external standard held up by relatives, friends or the media.
The second issue of who does the housework is particularly problematic for the dual-earner couple. If both the husband and wife are employed full-time, basic fairness should result in the sharing of household tasks. This does not always occur, however.
One national survey found that only a small minority of husbands in two-earner families perform as much as half of the housework and that over half do less than a quarter of it.
Studies indicate that employed wives have about 10 fewer hours of free time each week than either employed men or housewives. Employed wives often use weekends to catch up on cleaning and shopping. Employed husbands often use weekends to do odd chores and then catch up on their rest, watch television or play sports.
Evidence is accumulating that women are becoming less tolerant of the inequities. In fact, studies find that housework is a major source of conflict for young families.
Analyzing the way housework currently is performed in your family is a good way to begin addressing the issue of who does it. Ask yourself two questions: "Has the division of household labor changed as our family situation has changed?" and "How do I feel about the division of labor?"

Now, in my case, i totally understand where E is coming from, we've been here a little over 3 months now...1st time homeowners, and yes the lawns look great, ( it did when we bought the house) and I love our yard. And I also understand that it takes work to keep it up. Mowing and edging front and back once a week and automatic sprinklers do the rest. But, it seems like that is ALL he worries about, ya know, besides a front and back yard, we do have a living room, family room, kitchen, two bathrooms, and three bedrooms that also is part of OUR home. and thats not including the cooking for our family of 5 every night after working all day long, and making sure that we have clean clothes for work/school and daycare, getting all kids ready in am the am and safely delivering them to their destinations before driving myself to work by 7:30am...Am I just being selfish about this or what...Does anyone out there have any advice for me? May'be I am just in need of a serious, and i mean serious break...

6 comments:

Heather/SHTEZQ said...

wow ! they found you also.AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

after reading your entry I have to lean my descion toward you. you are right trish.

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trisha said...

geez- these spams are terrible, eh?