I also have kids. IMO, the way you’re accounting for hours doesn’t reflect the boom/bust cycle of the 5 day work and school week.
A day in my work week is:
wakeup around 6:15, feed kids, get their stuff ready for school and my stuff ready for work
three days a week two neighbor kids come over at 7:30 so their parents can get to work on time
I get the kids on the bus two days a week and work from home starting at 8:30 or drive into the office the remaining three days and get there around 8. Although I drive to work, I am able to sneak some exercise having walking conversations with coworkers thanks to being in a large building
if I went into the office, leave my desk at 4 and get home around 4:45. If I worked from home the kids get off the bus around 3:45 but I’ll still need to finish up my work day
cook dinner, referee a heard of wild kids when they swarm through our house, get our kids to do their homework
most days tend to have a kid activity thrown in the mix: baseball practice, swimming lessons, robotics club, etc that needs to somehow fit in with homework and dinner
bath time around 7:00, story time runs till 8
the kids are usually asleep by 8:30, which gives me 2.5 hours of time monday-friday that’s work and kid free before I have to go to bed. I can’t be too loud or I’ll wake the kids up. Combine this with having been up for 14.5 hours and I’m not very inclined to do what used to be my main hobby, making things and tinkering, due to noise and/or mental energy levels. My wife is fine with me sneaking out a day or two a week for a bit, but I don’t do that very often due to proximity to friends and many other friends having their own kids and routines
Things will probably calm down some when our kids are a touch older, but right now the week days are very hectic.
My kids are younger than yours, which has some advantages (no homework, not really any extracurricular activities, longer sleep) and disadvantages (not really able to feed or clothe themselves, need parent help for bathing, still need some assistance on brushing teeth, need to be read to instead of being able to read on their own).
During busy weeks (like when one of us parents is out of town for work or something) we’re quick to switch from home cooked meals to takeout or eating out, may hire cleaners, and push off some of the social interactions, but I also recognize that I’m working with a pretty nice buffer in that I’m already hanging out with friends about 10 hours per week.
10 hours worth of hangout time with friends sounds nice. Our kids are 5 and 8, which means they’re vaguely more self-sufficient and also means we can go on more adventurous trips, but they still require quite a bit of looking after due to bickering and what not.
I also have kids. IMO, the way you’re accounting for hours doesn’t reflect the boom/bust cycle of the 5 day work and school week.
A day in my work week is:
Things will probably calm down some when our kids are a touch older, but right now the week days are very hectic.
My kids are younger than yours, which has some advantages (no homework, not really any extracurricular activities, longer sleep) and disadvantages (not really able to feed or clothe themselves, need parent help for bathing, still need some assistance on brushing teeth, need to be read to instead of being able to read on their own).
During busy weeks (like when one of us parents is out of town for work or something) we’re quick to switch from home cooked meals to takeout or eating out, may hire cleaners, and push off some of the social interactions, but I also recognize that I’m working with a pretty nice buffer in that I’m already hanging out with friends about 10 hours per week.
10 hours worth of hangout time with friends sounds nice. Our kids are 5 and 8, which means they’re vaguely more self-sufficient and also means we can go on more adventurous trips, but they still require quite a bit of looking after due to bickering and what not.