Boy, are you guys WAY off. I should explain further:
First off, my job is a 10-hour a day, very high-pressure, high-pay one that we are blessed to have. But it's far from an 8-hour day.
More importantly, I have ALWAYS been a big help-around-the-house guy, and do more than 90% of the guys I know in that regard. I'm also her biggest fan and biggest supporter of stay-at-home mom's in general, who I think have a very difficult and most important job in the world.
I DO think, however, that she is also overwhelmed, because she won't delegate ANY work to any of our kids. "It's easier to do it myself" and "I wish they'd just OFFER to do something to help me" are her ususal complaints, but our children are 17, 15, 11 and 8, and there's no reason why they can't be doing more around the house. We've had this same conversation/argument for at LEAST 10 years, and nothing ever changes. When they were little, saying "but we have four children!" was a valid excuse for being late to things and having a messy house, etc., but now that they are older, I think they should be a RESOURCE, not a HINDRANCE. Isn't this why farmers used to have large families -- for help around the farm?
So to sum up, she is surrounded by help both real (me) and potential (the kids), but won't actually ASK for any help. Rather, she'll complain into the ether with comments like "I can't do it all around here!" and "You know, there's only ONE of me!" rather than just asking one of the children "Can you take this pile of clothes upstairs and put it away in your dresser?" or saying "I expect your room to be picked up by tomorrow, otherwise you're not going out this weekend" -- and then sticking to it.
Man, we are a John Rosemond poster family for "What Not to Do." But it's NOT because I don't help or support her!
