A Two-Income World

I often hear that it's necessary for most families to have two incomes these days. I now know that's not true. Most families, with a little effort and work developing skills, can live on one income.

Have you ever stopped to think about all the things women pay other people to do, that we could learn to do ourselves if we had some time? In other words, are all these little conveniences worth your hours--your life?

Many women who work, work so that:

- they can pay other women to care for their children
- they can pay others to privately educate their children
- they can pay somebody else to clean their homes
- they can pay somebody else to bake their bread
- they can pay somebody else to make almost all of their meals (convenience foods)
- they can pay some company to both make and serve them their meals a few times a week (restaurants)
- they can pay someone to wash their car
- they can pay somebody else to mow and care for their lawn
- they can pay companies mucho bucks for the convenience of browsing through gleaming store aisles and buying mass-produced household products and decorating items so that their home can look just like everybody else's. (Rather than making or purchasing used one-of-a-kind items and fixing up).
- they can pay for the car to get to the job to pay for the car
- they can pay somebody else to press their husband's collared shirts
- they can pay someone else to file their income taxes
- they can pay other people and companies to entertain them in their few hours off each week (movies, events, entertainment venues).
- they can pay somebody else to cut hubby's and children's hair
- they can pay someone else to teach and help their children learn new skills, through various classes and extra-curricular activities
- they can pay for therapy for themselves, their marriage, or their children, because this crazy running-around lifestyle (from work to school to daycare to swimming lessons to the restaurant to the dry-cleaners to Pottery Barn to get that latest kitchen gadget they won't have time to use) is taking it's toll.

I'm sure the list could go on. Please understand that I'm not against conveniences or restaurants or women who use them! I like to eat out and buy something at a nice store now and then too. But it often comes to a place where families are literally working to pay other people to live their lives for them. And it doesn't have to be this way!

A couple more points:

Why is it fulfilling for millions of workers to spend their lives performing the above services for stressed and grumpy people they don't even know, and not for women who would do them for their own families? (Right, Becky?:o) I think it's pretty boring to do the same one thing over and over and over each day, but the homemaker gets a huge variety of tasks to perform! She can pursue whatever skills and interests she wants to that she thinks would benefit her family!

If a family isn't crazily running around all day long, they might actually have the time and energy to pursue mind-engaging activities, like reading! (I think I heard somewhere recently that 40-something% of adults haven't even cracked a book in the past year) Your children might have time to sleep. They might not get childhood obesity from being raised on fast food and watching TV three hours a night.

Best of all, the family that works and plays together, stays together. I would much rather have all day to work and learn with my future children than two hours a night to "luxuriate" together in utter exaustion.

Please don't take this post wrong if you're a working woman with a family and you like it that way. I'm not against you! I'm just sharing why I wouldn't choose to be you:o) And ladies...most of us do have choices, as long as we have the willingness to work hard and be creative! I recently read the blog of a woman whose husband makes $7.50 an hour and they're happy with five children and the wife at home. Now, obviously, that's not an easy situation. But I would rather be that woman than the wife in a wealthy family that never has time together. Isn't it wonderful to have choices?