When I was single the weekends seemed quite long. I would sleep half of the Saturday, watch some TV shows, clean a bit and sometimes visit some friends. And Sunday evening I would play bass in my metal band. Nice and easy.
But now that I have a family and small children there is never time to do anything. The kids always need something, food, diper, entertainment, make them sleep, clean up. Wash the dishes, wash the clothes etc. Once we’re done with them it’s 9pm, we try to watch a movie and my partner falls asleep of exhaustion within 20 minutes. I try do watch it to the end so I can tell her the summary in the morning.
It’s totally regarding to have kids but I wish the weekend was one day longer.
I know a number of families with one parent working. They just chose differently. They don’t have a massive, expensive house, they don’t vacation in Disney, they don’t have brand new cars, nor expensive cars, the kids don’t have the coolest gadgets, etc, etc.
They just chose differently than other people.
That’s anecdotal and I didn’t imply it does not happen.
We do know it is not very prevalent though not sure on stats.
Also, one person still has to make enough money for support 2-3 dependants. That’s inherently would require a decent income or paid off house…
This is us. We often have to make sacrifices that our friends and family don’t (seriously don’t understand how people afford to eat out all the dang time and go on so many vacations) but it’s worth it.
Edit: as an example, my 10 year old nephew has a brand new iPad and just got an Apple Watch. Meanwhile, we are holding out as long as we can to replace my wife’s busted old tablet and can’t ever imagine spending money on a smartwatch when we have phones. Obviously not everyone has this privilege that we do and I am thankful for it.
Congrats on the one parent with enough income to do that but that’s not reality for most people…