8 hours a day

oh another half day eh Kavita - I hear down the hall when I leave around 5pm to pick up my son or rush back home so food is ready for my family. I wonder why I get this cat call - it doesn't help that I come to work at 8.30 or 9am. But I don't take lunch breaks and even if I do, I log back on VPN to make up any loss time. But why do people assume that people like me, especially me who has young kids at home, working hubby, no extended family support, does not stay late at work MOM doesn't put in the 8 hours a day for work? That I wanted to prepare dinner, fresh if possible, so my family is fed on time, cannot possibly be doing more than 8 hours. Does the 8 hours at office or staying till 10pm at work or sending emails at midnight justify that? Can I not be doing in chunks and working at a minimum and especially fulfulling the core business hours of work and get the work done...is that not WORKING?

I am especially astounded when I hear about what a laid back routine I have. Laid back? Hardly but I choose not to answer this comment. For the record, not once have I ever questioned these people how they do 16 hours every day and spend quality time at home which includes not just taking family out on dinners but also helping with household chores, playing with kids, getting their homework done and entertaining friends. In other words, how do they manage 16 hours and still have time to cook, clean, feed, read or heck even watch Blue's Clues with thier kids? And then I realized...more than half of them are men, wives are stay at home moms, or have extended families to support them. This is certainly not to understate the work stay at home moms have to do. But at least there is no pressure for the husbands to get back home ASAP or pick up the kid from school or rush home to cook dinner et al. Some have fessed up and said, they don't help in household chores other than on weekends ...may be. They cook dinners for thier families, but once in a blue moon. They read almost every day for 30 minutes but at bedtime, that means the kid has had dinner, bath in some cases, and played with toys before they show up at home. They take family out to movies or restaurents on weekends or Friday evenings...what? really? How helpful!

So I end up doing lots of things and work 8 hours a day - day time 8 hours. Maybe more on occassional deadline or proposal work. May be this is one of those classic men-women who does more work discussion that has no ending!!!