STRESSED OUT DADS - JOIN THE FLAT OUT CLUB!
April 19, 2007 by Jan Shim
© TIME ASIA MAGAZINE, APRIL 2007
“You have plans for your careers.”
“You have savings plan.”
“You have vacation plans”
“But how many of you have parenting plans?”
Fathers all over Asia share that sense of guilt over their inability to balance work and parenthood …. Indian fathers have less and less time to spend with their children … a 35-year-old human-resources manager in Tokyo … blame unsympathetic employers … an office worker in Seoul feels obliged to drink with his colleagues and clients and hardly seens his 4-year old” “But unlike their fathers, Asian men today face an epoch-shifting change: the entry of women into the workforce. Having two incomes has brought economic benefits to countless families, and given women rich opportunities for fulfillment, but it has left men scrambling to become the fully fledged co-parents their wives now need them to be. ~ TIME ASIA, pg 16-21 “Dad’s Dilemma”
We are faced with more stress than ever before, economically, socially and behind closed doors. Check out this feature article Asian fathers are in a bind, tugged in opposite directions by responsibilities at work and at home. Is there a way out? As a father of two and having lived through a couple of economic peaks and troughs in the past 15 years, it’s become more of a balancing act between work and family rather than seeking escape or a way out. It is this work/life balance that is on many corporate agendas today. I’m not so sure if that’s necessarily a good thing, however politically correct it may be.
If you have a Flat Out story to share, I’d love to read them.
Interesting Topic
Well…to me, I believe it is a choice you make. All of us are given 24 hours a day, no more no less. How and what you want to do with it really it is up to your priorities in life.
All of us want to have a good job and provide for our family and perhaps have a nice holiday away from home at least once a year.
We also want to spend quality time with our family…right? How are we going to do that if most of our time outside the normal 9 to 5 is devoted to our job?
Therefore, I believe in order to balance your lifestyle, you just have to re-prioritise what is important to you and do whatever you want in your life.
[...] weekends too. Not only do kids no longer have childhood space, parents find themselves in an ever increasing stressful situation dealing with the demands on their kids. We seem to live in a society that is driven by [...]