Fathers and Finances

Blog Check Week 10

This week in class we talked about the topic of “Father’s and Finances.” This was a really interesting thing to talk about. In the church, we tend to have fathers be the primary providers, or the “breadwinners.” The wives stay at home and take care of the children and housework. According to research, women tend to do 35% more work in the home compared to their husbands. Although I do appreciate the work that men do to provide for their families, I think that they should take more part in things at home. They created the children too, after all. We talked about the importance of living on less and learning to live within your means. You might not be able to have everything you want, but it will be worth it when you don’t have the stress of being in debt. My professor told this story about the family who made well over enough money every year, but they spent it all on things that didn’t matter that they could never make ends meet and pay their bills. You don’t want that at all.  It’s not how much money you make, it’s what you do with it.

            We also talked about how in the world, there is a trend in families to have both parents working outside the home and bringing in money. The truth is, is that this doesn’t really make that much of a difference. My professor talked about the TV show that he was once where a couple who both worked outside of the home was featured. The husband made 42,000 dollars a year and the wife made 21,000 dollars a year. An accountant crunched the number and revealed to them that in reality, they make 40, 500 dollars a year. He asked them “are you going to give up the time you could be spending with your children and family for 1500 dollars a year?” This was a real eye-opening experience for that family. They were upset of course but it just goes to show that it is not completely necessary.

Next, we talked about how to balance work and recreation in the family. How to you encourage children to work and contribute to the home while still making it a somewhat enjoyable, teachable experience? Some suggestions that were made were

-          Do it together, make it fun, and add music

-          Create a sense of unity

-          Don’t pay kids to work. They do less and they resent it more.

One cool thing that was said was “the more menial the labor the easier you can connect with others and talk.” I think this is true for families who need to spend time together. Another interesting thing that happened in Denmark was that they made work optional and suicide rates significantly increased. Work is something that humans need! Work helps make them feel important and prepares children for marriage.

One thing growing up that I resented was that my parent’s kind of just told us what to do. It seemed demeaning and honestly just made me angry. I wish they would have said “hey, let’s do the dished together” or okay lets all work on this one bathroom!” I don’t want my children to grow up with a skewed view of helping out in the household and have them hate it. I want to make it a fun bonding experience that we can enjoy together. I remember I went down to Utah one weekend and I stayed with my friend’s family. They all went outside and cleaned up leaves together. There was no fighting or arguing, and they seemed to genuinely enjoy each other’s company. Ever since they I have kept that as a goal for my future family.