In the 1950's, women were responsible for keeping house, cooking meals, raising the kids..etc while the men were off at work. It was rare during those times that a woman would have a decent job with decent pay. Over time as women have become more independent and granted 'almost equal' positions/offers as men things have changed for households. I don't know if I would like to stay at home full time (I know I know, I say that without having REALLY experienced it) - - when I'm off for Christmas break after 3-4 days I start to get bored and wish I was back at work. While I don't mind sleeping in - - I don't like being cooped up in a house all day either.
I'm very thankful that Hardy and I both have jobs that for now keep us afloat with our embarassing credit card balances and house payment. I take pride in how hard I've worked to get our credit scores up and keep them there. After having bought the townhome, I'm TRYING to find a way to pay off our credit cards (I know that's backwards, we should have done that before buying a home). But we were able to get the home and it was too good not to take. I've attempted to apply for a personal loan but so far the banks tell me our debt-to-income ratio won't allow for one. But I'm like - - uhh hello, if you'd give me the loan I WON'T HAVE THESE credit card bills anymore, duh!?!? Whatever...the economy sucks even for responsible people who are trying to go about things the right way.
Back to household duties - when we lived in our tiny 1 bedroom apartment in Gainesville we didn't really have 'duties', I generally always had to ask for help from Hardy to change the litter box or vacuum..etc etc. Now that we're in a much larger space, however, we agreed to split the downstairs/upstairs duties. I'm very proud of my husband for doing what he does, even if sometimes I still feel like I do more. I realize he works hard every day of the week and appreciate his willingness to help. I feel that if both people work then they should share responsibilities. If you split the bills, why not split the housework - - right? Now if I were at home all day, I would make sure the house was always clean and presentable because that would be my job. I'm even lucky enough that Hardy enjoys cooking - even though his 'part' of the house involved the kitchen, I didn't demand that he be the cook but he is and he's great at it. I still, occasionally make meals if he's not familiar how to cook it or it's something suggested and I have the recipe but most nights it's him that cooks.
Ahhhh I love him.
That is awesome that he does half of the cleaning. Michael helps a lot, but doesn't do anywhere near half. Cleaning is not my speciality, so our house is always a wreck!
ReplyDeleteYou wont know if you like staying home or not until you have kids. Some people can't stand it and need to work, but others love it. I never, ever have a free moment and am always doing something. When the kids go to bed I have to do housework and then fall in the bed. I do enjoy working a little (I work for Michael), but I only work a few hours a week and the kids go with me. It's nice to have some balance to fit everything in, but being a stay at home mom is anything but boring!
I am not meant to work! It's hilarious to me that the name Emily means "industrious" and I'm the most un-working personality type ever!!! Even when ALL our kids are grown and in school I never plan to have a job! I swear it's not laziness (as I think I'm a rockin' at home mom for real!) it's just not my passion and therefore I've never been very good at it. My house IS always clean and I do typically cook dinner. I actually WISH that women would have never fought for equal rights, we had it WAY better back then!!!!
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