Family Dinner: The Working Mother's Cross to Bear?

Slate.com's Emily Bazelon has an article detailing the results of a new study of IBM employees that observed a perception of lesser professional achievement among those working mothers who failed to regularly eat dinner with their families. The benefits of regular family meals for children are well-documented, but this is noteworthy as a study of the impact on parents.

The WSJ's Sue Shellenbarger notes that since married women spend more than three times more hours each week cooking meals and cleaning up afterward, compared with married men, regular family meals more likely are a source of more stress than comfort.

I've written about my feelings on family dinners before. Basically they are the focal point of my fondest childhood memories, but I have yet to work a full day and cook a full meal myself.

This latest study, published without recognition of domestic labor disparities, seems a little cruel to me. It's like, "Hey you, working mom. Feeling stressed about being able to balance your professional and personal commitments? Well the good news is thanks to social biases and psychological constructs, you can trick yourself into thinking things are better by taking on MORE work!"

Can Dad Boil the Water?

Leslie Kaufman's article in The New York Times, entitled "Mom Puts Family Back on the Table," left me so confused. Cannabalistic title aside, her solution to the basic work-cook conundrum was baffling. She details how, despite working full time and not getting home until 7:30pm most nights, she is able to put a healthy and varied menu on the table for her family. The solution? Spending her Sunday planning, shopping, and preparing. Also her babysitter pitches in.