the ole soap opera and bon bon debate

[greatestislove]

Do you believe that SAHM/D's have a responsibility to keep the home spotless?

Do you think they should work as hard as their significant others (or whoever is supporting them)?

Generally speaking, do you think sahm/d's work as hard as full-time employees or are they a bunch of lazy bitches?

Comments

[spicycurvydiva]

Do you believe that SAHM/D's have a responsibility to keep the home spotless?
Hell no. I don't believe that anyone has a responsibility to keep their home spotless. That's just a big myth perpetuated by Procter & Gamble to keep people buying their products.

Do you think they should work as hard as their significant others (or whoever is supporting them)?
Who can measure how hard someone is working? If my son is happy and well fed when I get home from work (which he always is) I feel he did his job just as well as I did mine. We don't put demands on each other like that--he doesn't grill me about what I did all day, either.
I don't know if we really 'count' since we both work, just different shifts. I do work more hours be he also pulls a 4.0 in engineering school. So I think we're both working pretty damn hard.

Generally speaking, do you think sahm/d's work as hard as full-time employees or are they a bunch of lazy bitches?I don't know. I'm sure there are plenty of lazy ass sahp's who really don't do jack shit all day and give

[kitchenwitch]

I wouldn't say spotless, but reasonably clean, and I do think they should work as hard as whoever is supporting them, although that is difficult to quantify. I think that the burden to keep the house looking good and functioning well increases as children grow older, as they'll become more independent as time goes on

[bestdaywelived]

I honestly think that sahm's should keep the house clean.

I will get flamed for th is, but SAHP's don't work as hard as WOHP's. Women who have children and work outside the home often still do most if not all of the housework.

[wyllow42]

I would have disagreed with you 6 months ago, but since I have been gone from the house more than my husband and am STILL expected to do 90% of the housework/laundry and all of the cooking, and find many other women in the same situation, I can't help but agree. Having done both the SAHM and WOHM roles, I am working much harder now as a WOHM because of this and trying to keep the same level of quality time with my kids.
I certainly hope that some women have different situations, where their husbands/ SOs chip in with the domestic responsibilities. I just haven't found that to be the case with hardly anyone I know, parents or otherwise.

[maylea_moon]

agreed. me too.

[silveredmadness]

I know two stay at home dads whose wives do nothing for housework.

Maybe they're just different than the norm-- but both of them do all of the housework, all of the childcare, and their wives, once they get home, do absolutely nothing.

I'm 99.9% certain, though, that were my husband the stay at home parent, I'd be cleaning my ass off every night after I got off work.

Just sayin', I know men who do all the work as stay at home parents *are* out there.

[chelleg1977]

Spotless might be taking it too far, but I know that I would have a higher standard of cleanliness and organization if I were a SAHM instead of a WOHM. I do what I can and don't sweat the details because I want that extra time with the baby right now.

I don't know how you would quantify that a SAHP was working as hard as a WOHP or whatever so ... I guess so? As long as the two adults are in agreement over who is doing what, when and everyone's needs are being met and no one is being belittled for their role in the family, it is all good.

No. I think there are lazy full-time employees and lazy SAHP just like there are really hard working full-time employees and SAHPs. Some people are just well-suited for the work that they do and do it well. Others should maybe consider a career change.

[owlsarentaholes]

I don't think anyone is obligated to keep their home spotless . . . . I'm not into perfection when it comes to cleaning my house.

I think being a SAHP is a full-time job on it's own, if you're going to give your kids a lot of attention and enriching experiences (taking them places, doing crafts with them, etc).

I also think it's reasonable to keep the house in decent order and cook a meal (especially if your kids are older and can help), though I think a lot depends on your partner's job and likes/dislikes.

I fully admit that I get taken advantage of. I'm a work-at-home mom who's also expected to keep the house clean and cook dinner 5 nights a week. My partner works a laborious job and then comes home and does more labor outside (and on the weekends too). He does do heavy cleaning with me, though, since I'm a terrible housekeeper and he's rather good.