I've been reading Valerie Bryson's paper on time use studies again. It's set me thinking about the fact that as a parent I am always on call, never off duty. It's more a matter of the degree of responsibility. As Valerie points out, even sleeping involves childcare, as a child is liable to wake up and need something at any point, and I have to be in a fit state to deal with it.
Here's my sliding scale of responsibility. 0 is completely carefree and 9 is total attention to children.
when I am asleep 1
when they are asleep and I am in the house 2
when they are asleep and I am out, but nearby 3
when I am away overnight and partner is in charge 2
once, when I was in Kyrgyzstan with no phone, email or other contact with home 0
during school hours 3 (need mobile phone on and need to ensure I or someone else can collect sickly children/ do the school run).
first thing in the morning 7
any time when children are experiencing extreme emotions (ill, upset, in the school play, excited)- 9
This is probably boring for you, so I'll stop there. but fascinating for me. I might see if partner will do it, so we can compare approaches. hmmm. might cause a row, so will have to be careful how to approach this.
