The Transition to Parenthood and the Social Reality of Time

Abstract

Ever since LeMasters (1957) defined the arrival of the first child as a crisis, transition to parenthood researchers have been preoccupied with testing his hypothesis (for example, see Dyer, 1963; Hobbs, 1965, 1968; Hobbs and Cole, 1976; Hobbs and Wimbish, 1977; Russell, 1974; Steffensmeier, 1982; Wylie, 1979). In fact, researchers have been so engrossed in the crisis orientation to the transition to parenthood-an orientation that is principally concerned with how people cope with becoming parents-that they have failed to provide much information on what actually happens in a family when an infant is added to the fold. Lately, however, the focus seems to be shifting, in that we are beginning to see studies that attempt to document how the social organization of a family changes during the transition to parenthood (for example, see Cowan et al., 1978; Entwisle and Doering, 1981; LaRossa and LaRossa, 1981). What are these studies finding? Although the evidence is meager, with more research sure to come, a definite pattern may already be emerging. It appears that when new parents are asked not whether they are bothered or gratified with parenthood but how their lives have changed since their babies were born, they consistently talk about one variable more than any other: time. Complaining that their lives have become if anything more hectic, new fathers and mothers report that sleep time, television time, communication time, sex time, and even bathroom time are all in short supply, thanks to their newborns. Paradoxic lly, they also say that they are more often bored. Sudden weight gains and soap opera addictions are commonly attributed to having too many idle moments.

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