Tuesday, June 24, 2008
week 4 chapter 7: work/life balance
I found the work/life balance concept to be very interesting because I can relate to it. The book defines this term as the simultaneous influence of work on members lives away from work. The book also talks about the standards society places on women to balance work and home life such as child care and domestic labor. I struggled to maintain this gender requirement once my son was born. When I went back to work and school I tried my hardest to maintain the household as well and I was becoming burnt out. I would get home and be so tired that I would become grumpy when cooking, cleaning, and taking care of my son. I was only pleasant to my son but my relationship was taking a toll. I had to make a choice and the choice I made was to quit working. It seemed like I did not have another option because school is my main priority.
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2 comments:
It's amazing that you have been able to maintain a household while working, attending school and taking care of your son. Sometimes it can be too much and individuals do choose to ease up on things a bit. It's great that you had the option to quit work because not alot of people can do that :) Balancing life with work can be so tough for parents/students. I find myself not experiencing it to the level that you have but I know that in my future, there will come a time where I will have to learn the importance of balancing work/life.
I admire that you are able to find a way to balance work/life commitments. I thought it was interesting that you mentioned that you are always pleasant to your son. I wonder if this also falls under the emotion labor topic also mentioned in the text. I’m sure it is very exhausting to manage all of those tasks so it is very impressive that you made the decision to quit working in order to better balance the load. I think decisions like this are not easy, but need to be made in order to help prioritize activities.
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