SOCIAL SCIENCES

How Not To Hate Your Husband After Kids

Little, Brown. Mar. 2017. 288p. ISBN 9780316267106. $27; ebk. ISBN 9780316267113. CHILD REARING
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OrangeReviewStarMemoirist, essayist, and children's author Dunn (Why Is My Mother Getting a Tattoo?) offers readers a hilarious and scientific look at how men and women differ in both their workloads and feelings about child care and home chores. With intriguing insight, she travels through the decades yet maintains a focus on today's parents and the day-to-day dealings of the division of labor, seamlessly weaving her personal narrative into relevant research. For example, an Ohio State University study shows that "By the time [a] baby reaches nine months, the women had picked up an average of 37 hours of childcare and housework per week, while the men did 24 hours, even as both parents clocked the same number of hours at work." Despite that discouraging statistic, Dunn doesn't fall into a mode of "I told you so," but rather takes the high road, illustrating how male and female brains file neatly into evolutionary patterns.
VERDICT This truly fascinating text is delightful. Dunn's stories add laugh-out-loud moments, such as describing Grandma's snack cupboard as "Gran's bag of petroleum and animal by-products." One of the best books on the subject. Highly recommended.
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