This Wall Street Journal article came my way this week, and it merits a Woman Power Wednesday post. Behind Many Powerful Women on Wall Street: A Doting ‘Househusband’
Two things jumped out at me right away:
- In 45% of U.S. opposite-sex marriages, wives earn as much or more than their husbands.
- The percentage of stay-at-home dads has risen from 11% in 1989 to 18% in 2021.
When I look back at my career, I think of how my wife, a physiotherapist specialising in neonates and children, balanced work and raising our three daughters. In hindsight, what she was able to do is remarkable. Whenever I went through slow periods financially, the kind of thing often necessary when you are an entrepreneur, Cathy would jump full-tilt into the home health world, but never miss a beat as a mom. She was often doing paperwork well into the night (and weekends) after she had completed the lion’s share of caring for the kids, including school carpools, grocery shopping, preparing meals, and bedtime routines. I know I helped if I was home, but I was often on the road.
Our daughters are all married now, and one has our first grandchild, a blessing in our lives. All three of our girls are career-minded and entrepreneurial. The ‘super-woman’ who raised them has influenced how they balance work and life. Fortunately, they have supportive, adoring husbands who appear to understand that it is a team effort. I’m not sure there will be a househusband in the mix, but it is good to see that this type of thing is becoming more of the norm.
When our oldest, Sally, who owns and operates Sally Wilkinson Design, had our granddaughter, she said something during her first week of being a mum that I thought was remarkable:
I chose to bring a child into the world with my husband and to have my own business. I know it will not always be easy, but I will not be the kind of mother who gets to the end of the day and complains about how difficult things are. We will figure it out as we go.
By-the-way, the featured image above is Cathy in the Cotswolds at a favorite local. And below, I’ll share a picture I love of Cathy and Sally together. Apples don’t fall far from the tree! (Cathy, the retired physiotherapist, now an intern in Sally’s design business, in addition to helping out with childcare!)
Woman Power: Bloom Where You Are Planted
