Comments on: The

By: metheothertwin

metheothertwin — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 17:32:57 +0000

I work from home. When I want to avoid that work, I distract myself by doing housework -that is, until I want to avoid the housework. I then gladly go back to what pays for the sloppy house-it’s a double edged sword.

By: Alicia

Alicia — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 16:54:11 +0000

Katherine – your comment hit my feelings dead on. I agree that there is far more satisfaction in doing something for myself versus someone else. I would much rather be at home cleaning than at work, and I don’t like to clean. The sense of accomplishment is also very real, as Katherine put, the results are tangible with cooking and cleaning. A lot of times at my job I never see the end result of the projects I’m working on. It feels more like working for the sake of keeping busy, which I don’t enjoy. I do believe that if I were to work for myself I would be much happier, and in that situation would probably prefer work over household duties.

By: Rosemarie DiMatteo

Rosemarie DiMatteo — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 15:54:05 +0000

Ah, that ineffable quality: happiness. Sometimes I could just die for the joy of some thought or image that occurs to me while washing dishes. Other times I break a few. Don’t those folks who do “happiness” studies just kill you? (Then again, Oh, the joy of breaking something!) That’s it. The Happy Moment. Like right now.

By: Katherine

Katherine — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 15:08:58 +0000

Personally, I think that I enjoy cooking and, to some extent, housework, more than paid work. I’m not sure why this is, but I think it has something to do with the difference between working on behalaf of myself versus working for another person. It may also have something to do with the physical nature of cooking and housework — it absorbs your attention in a different way, and at the end, the results are tangible.

By: Rachael

Rachael — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 11:53:42 +0000

When I’m working, I’m not doing housework, and this makes me VERY happy! I hate housework. When I do housework, I’m frustrated and angry because it’s putting me behind at work (I work at home). Or else it’s taking time away from my creative writing, and that’s even worse.

By: Paul D

Paul D — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 02:36:10 +0000

This is a hard one to comment on- the variables of situations make it almost impossible-”The first shift was at the office, and the second at home.” Is the ‘cooking and cleaning’ being done by men in today’s relationships? Is it a shared value? I’d like to think so.