Wednesday, May 26, 2004
Distribution of Labour
Raising Leelee is not an easy job. It is a 24 hour, non-paying job with no vacation or sick leave. The perks are many but not in any material form. I would apply for this job again if I had to but would have a better understanding of what it entails the next time.
Having said that, I think most parents deal with issues of 'who does more'.
Leelee's Daddy works a 9 hour day. He wakes up early, goes to work, works hard all day and then comes home.
The way I look at it though, he gets his exercise in because he bikes to work. He gets some fresh air and alone-time and I would absolutely LOVE some of that. He gets to interact with adults and have stimulating conversations. I mostly talk to Leelee which means repeating the same things over and over again and saying things like 'Milk? Want Milk? Leelee wants milk?". So yes, he does have to work, but really, I am not sitting at home, in front of the TV, eating bon-bons. I am doing laundry, vacuuming, making beds, changing diapers, putting Leelee down for a nap, running errands between naps, making dinner etc. Most days, I do not get to shower till Leelee's Daddy comes home. So in terms of distribution of labour, I do feel like I do more. So when Leelee's Dad comes home, I think he should take over. For the most part he does. This means putting Leelee to bed, changing all diapers at night and sometimes feeding her dinner. Seems fair to me.
Having said that, I think most parents deal with issues of 'who does more'.
Leelee's Daddy works a 9 hour day. He wakes up early, goes to work, works hard all day and then comes home.
The way I look at it though, he gets his exercise in because he bikes to work. He gets some fresh air and alone-time and I would absolutely LOVE some of that. He gets to interact with adults and have stimulating conversations. I mostly talk to Leelee which means repeating the same things over and over again and saying things like 'Milk? Want Milk? Leelee wants milk?". So yes, he does have to work, but really, I am not sitting at home, in front of the TV, eating bon-bons. I am doing laundry, vacuuming, making beds, changing diapers, putting Leelee down for a nap, running errands between naps, making dinner etc. Most days, I do not get to shower till Leelee's Daddy comes home. So in terms of distribution of labour, I do feel like I do more. So when Leelee's Dad comes home, I think he should take over. For the most part he does. This means putting Leelee to bed, changing all diapers at night and sometimes feeding her dinner. Seems fair to me.
Why bother with toys?
I think the toy-designers have it all wrong. They obviously do not have babies of their own. Don't they know that babies are very smart and instantly recognize that anything in a primary colour is NOT to be played with?
Leelee has quite a few toys. Not as many as most babies, but she has a small basketful. She seems to have outgrown the Gymini. Now that she can sit and crawl, there is no need for her to stay in one place and play with one toy. She does like the little pig finger-puppet that I got her. She also likes the orange star from the play-mat that Sonu gave her.
But mostly she likes things like the phone, remote, wires of any kind etc. She has a special love for the Dyson.. she chases after it when I am vacuuming.
Maybe I should become a toy designer and design toys that resemble remotes and cordless phones. I bet babies would detect that they were fakes and reject them.
Leelee has quite a few toys. Not as many as most babies, but she has a small basketful. She seems to have outgrown the Gymini. Now that she can sit and crawl, there is no need for her to stay in one place and play with one toy. She does like the little pig finger-puppet that I got her. She also likes the orange star from the play-mat that Sonu gave her.
But mostly she likes things like the phone, remote, wires of any kind etc. She has a special love for the Dyson.. she chases after it when I am vacuuming.
Maybe I should become a toy designer and design toys that resemble remotes and cordless phones. I bet babies would detect that they were fakes and reject them.
