Seven hours??? Are we talking - leave the house alone free time - or time spent in the bathroom without an audience?
Is it considered free time when the kids are asleep if you’re still on monitor duty and holding your breath that they won’t wake up until after you’ve finished the dishes?
What if you get the go to the grocery store on your own, is that free time?
I think I need more specifics about this “survey.”

I think we’re talking about real time for ourselves here.  You know, watch some TV, dinner with hubbie, girls night out, paint your nails, soak in the tub, commune with your garden, shop for yourself, read a book, post on a blog!!

Seven hours does seem like a lot of time in one clump...but this is per WEEK - meaning it’s JUST ONE HOUR A DAY!

HOW DO WE DO IT???

This is an eye opener for me. I hope 7 hours of free time does not include sleep time and brushing your teeth. I knew that moms are busy but there seems to be a serious situation out there!

Is there a similar survey for dads? I am sure it would be at least double this number. Maybe they can pitch in more.

An hour a day!  Sounds like heaven.  If I have 15 minutes to shower and dry my hair it’s a good day.

Listen, I’m all for supporting busy moms, but lets give the dads some credit here. Taking kids to the park? Coaching Little League teams? Fixing the leaky faucet in the bathroom?

My wife does a wonderful job keeping our family operating smoothly, but between a full time job, maintaining the house, and handling my responsibilities with the kids, I’m not exactly swimming in free time either!

I give my child work to do to keep her busy.  And sometimes, the grandparents are willing to take them overnight.  And if I can get my husband up from the couch, I can earn an extra 2 hours a week. 

I gotta get time where I can.  Seven hours a week is too little, and if I’m unhappy, my child and husband are miserable.  Come to think of it, my husband can use some misery while he watches sports.

Part of the problem is I need a chunk of time to relax and feel refreashed.  I hour a day does not work for me.  I am going to check out jooners.com and see what else they have to say.

Hi,

From www.Jooners.com here…

I’m really enjoying all the comments about this study we did.

I want to address the questions about what was included in “Personal Time” in this study.

First of all, we had both stay-at-home and working mothers participate in the study.  The 7 hours of personal time was an average across these two equally sized groups.

Second, what was included in “personal time” was really in the “eye of the beholder”.  In developing the survey, we did not specify what this time included.  In discussing some of the responses with participants, however, we realized that this varied a lot depending on the individual.  For example, one working mom included valuable time with her children in “Personal Time” because she didn’t get as much of it as she wanted.  Moms that didn’t work often needed real break time from their children and husband!  Many would include time with their husband in “Personal Time”.  And so on it goes…

Thanks for weighing with your thoughts on our survey!