Also, I want to go on record, msbelle and any other single mom out there. I am in awe of you. I have a hard enough time with a full time coparent and a ton of help in the form of Lori and a great day care provider. I cannot conceive of how I could do this alone.

I think you are brave and amazing.

It doesn’t include the fun stuff, like playing and reading and kissing good night.

While I get the point, WTF? Maybe thinking this is somehow not part of child care is part of the problem.

aurelia - how about Artist's Cafe, say 5 o'clock? I can skate out of work a little early. (Unless you have a better suggestion - I've never been, but it looks like they have outdoor seating which might be nice today.)

Do men do more hours of housework when they live by themselves? Or, like, do they just live in grosser homes?

t insert my rant about gay marriage benefiting straight couples here

Do men do more hours of housework when they live by themselves? Or, like, do they just live in grosser homes?

The latter (for me, anyway).

I know the Kool-Aid phrase came from the Jonestown suicides, but as with most things, I do believe it's been softened over the intervening time.

Actually when I thought about it further, I think the phrase may come from The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, in which case the ref fits more with Steph's initial "must be drugged" reading. But for me Jonestown was such a hugely formative moment I can't separate the phrase from that incident.

But to segue awkwardly to a different convo, Kat why is the article pinging you?

Do men do more hours of housework when they live by themselves? Or, like, do they just live in grosser homes?

Speaking only for the state of The Boy's house before I moved in, definitely the latter.

The social scientist’s definition of child care “is attending to the physical needs of a child — dressing a child, cooking for a child, feeding and cleaning them,” Blair says. It doesn’t include the fun stuff, like playing and reading and kissing good night.

So when I put Dylan to bed, getting him into his PJs counts, but reading him a story doesn't? If he's drinking milk while I'm reading to him, does that count for half because he's also being fed? And carrying him to the crib from the rocking chair counts, but not the part where I kiss him goodnight before I put him down?

(In short, I call bullshit on this method. It's WAY too fuzzy.)

Anyone who thinks reading to children isn't sometimes work has not read the same board book to an 18 month old 30 times in one day. Especially if it isn't even one of the *good* board books (I'd happily read Jamberry or Hairy Maclary 30 times. Well, maybe 20 times.)