I am one of those "other" women....whose husband does the cleaning! woohoo! :-)
Actually, it's becoming more equal, now that I'm a SAHM (stay-at-home-mom) and work part time.
When my husband, and I were first living together, HE did all the cleaning! We both worked 40-50 hours/week (no kids). You see, one of his first jobs, many, many years ago, was as a janitor at a large corporation. He eventually worked his way up the ladder, but he learned so much from his janitorial experience that I allowed him to "express his cleaning self" around our house every week. (ha ha). Unfortunately, I was the one who acted like the stereotypical male/husband and didn't do much cleaning.
I read an interesting article that discussed a different type of "housework" that is not largely discussed, but is very time consuming. Even though the cleaning-type of housework is becoming more equally shared, this other type of "housework" is still largely the woman's domain, and includes: organizing the home, arranging social engagements, shopping for birthday gifts, calling about utilities and repairs, etc. A University of Michigan sociologist (Pamela Smock quoted in online newspaper) said that "a persistent gender gap remains for what is called the 'invisible' household work: scheduling children's medical appointments, buying gifts, arranging holiday gatherings, for example."
So, while my husband cleans more toilets than I do (or, rather USED to), I DEFINITELY do close to 99% of the "invisible housework" in my home, plus the cooking (which my husband still doesn't seem to understand that not only is that an hour every-single night, it's also planning a menu, writing grocery list, grocery shopping, putting away groceries, etc....all for this ONE task!)
Oh---and now that I'm a SAHM and don't work 40+ hours "outside the home for pay" any longer...I do 99% of the "cleaning/housework" plus most of the childrearing. However, this system works in our house: we both agree that we have full-time, 8am-5pm jobs (his is paid; mine is not). Whatever needs to be done before 8am and after 5pm, and on the weekends, is ours to share! It's great! :-)
I'm curious: who does the most "invisible" housework in your home? This was one area where I had the most trouble trying to find my work-life balance and raise a baby. I could clean a tub or make a bed, but the endless invisible housework was too much for me to handle with everything else. Calling Realtors, or repairmen. Being the "social director" of the household. Taking cat to vet. All of these fell onto me, and was more difficult than what we traditionally think of as housework. How about for you?
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I am one of those "other" women....whose husband does the cleaning! woohoo! :-)
Actually, it's becoming more equal, now that I'm a SAHM (stay-at-home-mom) and work part time.
When my husband, and I were first living together, HE did all the cleaning! We both worked 40-50 hours/week (no kids). You see, one of his first jobs, many, many years ago, was as a janitor at a large corporation. He eventually worked his way up the ladder, but he learned so much from his janitorial experience that I allowed him to "express his cleaning self" around our house every week. (ha ha). Unfortunately, I was the one who acted like the stereotypical male/husband and didn't do much cleaning.
I read an interesting article that discussed a different type of "housework" that is not largely discussed, but is very time consuming. Even though the cleaning-type of housework is becoming more equally shared, this other type of "housework" is still largely the woman's domain, and includes: organizing the home, arranging social engagements, shopping for birthday gifts, calling about utilities and repairs, etc. A University of Michigan sociologist (Pamela Smock quoted in online newspaper) said that "a persistent gender gap remains for what is called the 'invisible' household work: scheduling children's medical appointments, buying gifts, arranging holiday gatherings, for example."
So, while my husband cleans more toilets than I do (or, rather USED to), I DEFINITELY do close to 99% of the "invisible housework" in my home, plus the cooking (which my husband still doesn't seem to understand that not only is that an hour every-single night, it's also planning a menu, writing grocery list, grocery shopping, putting away groceries, etc....all for this ONE task!)
Oh---and now that I'm a SAHM and don't work 40+ hours "outside the home for pay" any longer...I do 99% of the "cleaning/housework" plus most of the childrearing. However, this system works in our house: we both agree that we have full-time, 8am-5pm jobs (his is paid; mine is not). Whatever needs to be done before 8am and after 5pm, and on the weekends, is ours to share! It's great! :-)
I'm curious: who does the most "invisible" housework in your home? This was one area where I had the most trouble trying to find my work-life balance and raise a baby. I could clean a tub or make a bed, but the endless invisible housework was too much for me to handle with everything else. Calling Realtors, or repairmen. Being the "social director" of the household. Taking cat to vet. All of these fell onto me, and was more difficult than what we traditionally think of as housework. How about for you?
April 15, 2008 - 2:19pmThis Comment
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