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| Our wild kids in a rare state of calm |
My wife seems pretty stressed lately. Mounting work, a long overdue promotion, work travel, looking for childcare, house
hunting, and kids running wild at home (ages 3.5 and 1.5) have taken its toll. Although my parents are thankfully visiting from Ohio to help with the
kids temporarily, their unsolicited but well-intentioned dose of parenting advice mixed with constant worry about how we’re going to manage everything probably doesn’t
help with stress.
So when I read Princeton political scientist Anne Marie-Slaughter’s article, “Don’t worry, working moms: Just leave Dad in charge at home” in the Washington Post, I got a good chuckle (this is another sequel to her “Why Women Can’t Have it All” article from two years ago). That seems to be the default option already in families with young kids when dad is the professor with the flexible schedule and mom has a great full time (and higher paying) career which requires more hours in the office and travel.
Although we put in roughly an equal amount of time into household
work and parenting, I sometimes think my wife feels slightly guilty that she’s
not doing enough as a mother. Times are changing though with many
dual-income parents so I suspect we’ll see more families shifting away from traditional parenting roles to find the optimal work-life balance. So Yoon, hang in there. I know you're doing your best. And kids and housework ... I
say bring it on!
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