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by SpikeRants from Watauga

Last Post 11 hours Ago


Ahh, Mothers Day
May 10, 2008 | 8:58 AM
Category: News
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I love my mother. I love my wife. They both do fantastic jobs with their kids. And they both spoil the crud out of their kids.

That said, I find myself distraught at the salary.com feature about how mothers should make around $117,000 a year.

No, don't get me wrong. I know mothers and wives do a mess of work around the house. My mother cleaned the house WEEKLY, cooked every night, did the dishes every night, tucked me and my brother into bed (along with my father), and held us as we cried over a cut knee or a lost girlfriend.

But my father? He did the lawn work. Killed the spiders. Did house repairs. The tasks were EQUALLY DIVIDED. Sure, my mother did the housework, but my father did the housework too-- just not the same house work as my mother.

My house today? My wife gets about 95% of the diapers. I get any eye problems, like eyelashes in her eyes, glitter in my sons eyes, whatever. I win out on that deal, but hey, it's all good in our house. We both cook. Both do the baths on alternating days. We both clean the house (not near as often as we should, mind you, but we hit it hard once every two or three.... months.)

She's preggo now. I get the cat box. She gets the food and water. I get the lawn work. She gets the driving. I chase my boy around at night and let him attack me. She holds him as he drinks his warm milk before bed.

We BOTH get up in the night to take care of him if he cries, wants his ba-ba back on him, whatever.

So, on Father's day, will I see a report from salary.com about all I do and how much I should be making as a father? HA! Whatever.

I'm a landscape architect. I'm the tech support around the house. I'm the pest control, pet waste technician, plumber, electrician, handyman, part-time chef, part-time nanny, and security.

I think that's worth about $117,000 a year.

Where's my props? Where's my brother's? My father's? My co-worker's?

Nah. We won't see any props.

I'm glad women are in the workforce. I'm all for giving them their props for taking care of kids at home. But the men are taken for granted.

So yes, look your mother in the eye and say you love her and thanks for taking care of you when you were growing up. But, on Father's day, remember to look HIM in the eye and say thanks for all the sacrifices he made. Working late when he'd rather be home because "it's a man's place to make the bacon." Keeping a well-kept lawn. Bugs out of the house. Teaching you how to burp. Showing you how to fix a car, fix the plumbing, fix a fan, hook up the television, fix the computer when some site gives your computer a trojan.

Remember your PARENTS. Thank your PARENTS.

And let's have a study showing how much fathers should make if they got paid for the work around the house.
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Member Comments Total Comments: 12
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illusionsssss read my blog
May 10, 2008 | 11:59 AM

Great blog.
cowboyswife58 read my blog view my photos
May 10, 2008 | 12:30 PM

equal time
equal praise
SpikeRants read my blog view my photos
May 10, 2008 | 5:45 PM

Cheers to both of you.
TexasTruBlu read my blog view my photos
May 11, 2008 | 12:37 PM

Okay-given, the roles are different. But what about a situation where the husband works out of the home and the wife "goes" to work. They both work-but for some reason, the wife still has housework such as cleaning and laundry and cooking and shopping to do when she gets home. I have been a stay at home mom-it's a full time job. And many women are doing that job on top of a full time job outside the home. While I sympathize to your lack of recognition, I wonder if you really know what your wife does all day. If she was like me when I stayed home, she's busy. The fact that our house is in constant disarray is because I am just plain too tired to do work when I get home. And I bet I am not the only one. You opened up a can of worms with this one.
SpikeRants read my blog view my photos
May 11, 2008 | 1:06 PM

Oh yeah, the wife still has housework, laundry, cleaning, cooking, etc.

And the husband sits around on his keister all night long, drinking beers and belching loudly all while scratching his hairy, greasy, protruding belly.

And then, in non-TV land, we see that the husband ALSO does the housework. In addition, he does the yard work. The car maintenance. Well, pretty much all the things I said in my blog.

A stay at home mum? My mummy did that. How easy was it to take care of two rambunctious boys? Not my cup of tea. And while she was at home doing that job, my dad was out doing HIS job, then coming home to help my mummy with hers. (Sorry about the "mummy" stuff, been watching Doctor Who with the "Are you my mummy?" bit too much.)

So, I see it this way: Stay at home mum: child-rearing from say 0700 to 1700. Dad, working from 0700-1730. Mom AND Dad: child rearing.

And then he has to do the yard work on the weekend too.

That's equality. Equality is NOT "I do the child rearing from 0700-1730 and then when you come home from a long, hard day at work, you get the child rearing from 1730-2200 and I get a bubble bath during that time."

Sounds like that's what you want. I opened no can. But, when the worms are out, I'll happily stomp on them.
Proud_Hawaiian read my blog view my photos
May 11, 2008 | 3:29 PM

"Where's my props? Where's my brother's? My father's? My co-worker's?"

FATHER'S DAY is June 15th of every year :)
SpikeRants read my blog view my photos
May 11, 2008 | 6:23 PM

True. But where's the constant reminder every day of how much the dad does every day, like there is for mothers?

Oh yeah. Greg Abbott reminds us every day. "Deadbeat dads!" Fox television is going to remind us of that in a few months with a new reality show.

I want proper props. The kind where they say about fathers what they say about mothers.
Proud_Hawaiian read my blog view my photos
May 11, 2008 | 9:07 PM

Why is it that people seem to find the simplest things to make such a big deal about?

I am guessing that the only reason there is so much hype about what mother's do is because for the LONGEST time what they have been doing since the beginning of time wasn't recognized at all....it was simply 'their place' to be and their 'UNPAID job' to be doing :)

Not only do mother's work IN (NON PAID position) the home, they also work OUTSIDE of the home, and THEN, they come home and PICK UP where they left off :)

Women ALSO have to deal with CHILD BEARING...then the AGONIZING pain of giving birth...that should make up for all the yard work you've done shouldn't it :)
SpikeRants read my blog view my photos
May 11, 2008 | 10:07 PM

Ohhhhhh.... okay. So for all of the years, including the past, oh, say, five thousand years to present, the men have gone to work, busted their keisters and come home only to be nagged and have the baby thrust upon them and told "It's YOURS now, I've done it ALL DAY," that's just a day in the life and we should sit back and take it.

I think you've proven my point perfectly. Double standards. It's fine to ignore men, but heaven forbid we should ignore it when a woman puts her shoes on.

Oh, and I don't think you read my post. I'm not snubbing women. I'm condoning the press for ignoring men. Also, in my post I stated specifically that men also work OUTSIDE of the home and come home to "PICK UP" in UNPAID positions as well. Both are doing the same work, both should get the same salary.com recognition.
SpikeRants read my blog view my photos
May 11, 2008 | 10:14 PM

Oh, and I guess if this is a little thing, then the whole "Colored Water Fountain," "No Negroes allowed," and that silly civil rights movement was a complaint about little things too. And slavery. And feminism. Gay rights is just a few whiny people complaining about nothing. Rape victims cry about nothing. Kids cry over a beating that left them near death WAY too much. And Tibet should just get over it. Because if men being treated like second class citizens is a little thing, then all of those things are as well.
wiserb79 read my blog view my photos
May 12, 2008 | 8:57 AM

Okay well if you are like me I work a 40 hour week just like my husband, however I come home at the end of the day cook, do dishes, laundry, mow the yard ect. ect. AND he sits on his ASS and watches TV NO killing spiders, NO fixing things around the house, I am lucky if he eats dinner with us (not sure luck is the word) He still gets to celebrate fathers day and expects a card at least. I know I have much more underlying problems here but just to let yall know "that guy" is not just someone you see on television.
SpikeRants read my blog view my photos
May 12, 2008 | 6:24 PM

Well, your husband's a bum. And one of those guys that needs a swift kick in his thing he sits around on all day. I wouldn't call him a man. I'd call him a leech. Same with any man who does that.

You deserve a special commendation. And you have my apologies that a man like that exists.
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SpikeRants

Land Surveyor, father of one of the cutest little boys in the world, the second one of the cutest due in August, and a Masculinist (fighting for TRUE equal rights for men and women, instead of the farce we have now.) Guess I could say I'm a humanist too, wanting true equal rights for ALL, not just for the "discriminated" ones.

Member Since: 8/29/2006


 

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