American Family Life

AmericanFamilyLife:TheChanging Picture

It’s another evening in an American household . The door swings open at 5:30 sharp “Hi ,honey ! I’m home !” In walks dear old Dad ,hungry and tired after a long day at the office . He is greeted by Mom in her apron ,three happy children ,and the aroma of a delicious pot roast .

After a leisurely meal together , Mom does the dishes. That, after all, is part of her job. The whole family then moves to the living room. There everyone spends the evening playing Scrabble or watching TV.

Then everyone is offer to bed. And the next morning Dad and the kids wake up to the sounds and smells of Mom preparing pancakes and sausages for breakfast. What? You say that doesn’t sound like life in your house? Well, you’re not alone . In fact, you’re not probably in the majority.

At one time in America, the above household might have been typical. You can still visit such a home –on television. Just watch reruns of old situation comedies. Leave it to Beaver ,for example, shows Mom doing housework in pearls and high heels. Dad keeps his suit

and tie on all weekend. But the families that operate like Beaver Cleaver’s are fewer and fewer. They’re disappearing because three parts of our lives have changed: the way we work, the way we eat, and the way we entertain ourselves. Becoming aware of the effects of those changes may help us improve family life.

Let’s look first at the changes in the way we work. Today thewords “Hi, honey ! I’m home !” might not be spoken by dear old Dad. Dear old Mom is just as likely to be saying them. A generation ago, most household could get along on one paycheck—Dad’s. Mom stayed at home, at least until the children started the school. But today, over half the mothers with young children go to work. An even greater percentage of mothers of old children are in the workforce. And the number of single-parent homes has mushroomed in the last thirty years.

These change in work have affects children as well as parents. When old Dad went out to work, children came home from school to Mom. Today, we’ll find them at an after-school program or a neighbor’s house. Or they may come home to no one at all. In every

community, children are cared for themselves until their parents return from work. Are this children missing out on an important part of childhood? Or are they developing a healthy sense of self-reliance? These are question that Mrs.Cleaver never had to dealwith.

In addition, Dad and now Mom are often gone long from home than ever. Not too long ago, most man work close to home. The office or factory was just downtown. Dad often walked to work or hitched a ride with a friendly neighbor. But no more.

Today’s working men and women are commuters. They travel distances to walk that would have made their parents gasp. Commutes of forty-five minutes or an hour are common. Workers travel on buses, subways, and crowded highways. Many leave their suburban homes at dawn and don’t return until dark. No runnin g home for lunch for today’s commuter.