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My Crazy Life - The Story Of Las Vegas Working Families

happy worker/flickr

In most families, both parents work outside the home, probably full time. New research shows the impact that is having on stress levels.

Las Vegas is a working city – whether working in hospitality, construction or other trades – people here work hard.

For people who have kids, that often means both parents have jobs, both parents share household responsibilities and both parents are, well, always a little stressed out.

This is the modern American – and Las Vegas – family. Busy, often tired, but sharing equal loads to make ends meet. According to the Pew Research Center, 46 percent of two-parent households say both parents work full time.   

According to Carissa D'Aniello, an associate professor of marriage and family therapy at UNLV, there are two big reasons more two-parent households have two working parents. One is the number of families who must have two jobs to stay afloat and the second is the number of couples who are both trying to advance their careers.

"That does pose challenges for taking care of children, specifically the need to balance work and family," she said,

She also said that the way children are scheduled now is different than in years past. Many kids are in lots of different activities, which puts extra stress on the parents.

Another factor is our ability to work from home, D'Aniello said. 

"With technology it makes it possible to work from home as well as in the office, now this can be a helpful thing to be able to work remotely, but it can also be tough, if you're at home and you're still trying to balance these dual responsibilities of work and family," she said.

Kim Boschee understands the difficulty of integrating family and work life. She runs her own business from her home, has a son in kindergarten and is married to an attorney.

"I can work from home and I do have a high level of flexibility but what's interesting is it feels like I never stop working," Boschee said. 

Boschee said when she transitioned from a stay-at-home mom to owning her own business, she and her husband had several discussions about finding the right balance.

"I hate to use the word balance, I don't like that term, but figuring out good working positions for both of us," she said.

She looks at it more as "riding the wave." She focuses sometimes on just getting through the next month, like a marathon runner focuses on getting through the next mile.

Running is another thing Boschee finds helps her with stress. She makes time in her busy schedule to train for marathons.

"I'm doing this because this is something that is fulfilling to me and has meaning, and because without it I think I probably would go a little bit crazy," she said. 

D'Aniello agreed that finding a healthy way to relieve stress is vital.

"I think finding an outlet that works for you is extremely important," she said. "It can take parents a little bit of time to get into that routine but it is really, really helpful."

Taking good care of his stress level is mandatory for Michael Geeser, a father of two and the regional director for government affairs for CSAA Insurance Group. 

"I really try hard not to get stressed," Geeser explained, "I guess everyone does, but I really make a point of it and if something is getting to big or too cumbersome for me I either try to give myself more time to accomplish it or I'll get more help to do it."

Besides looking at the problem of balancing work and life, the Pew Research Center also looked at how household responsibilities are divided.

If both parents are working, then the division of labor should be equal; however, researchers found that while more families feel like there is a more even split of household chores and child-care duties than years past, most moms feel like they still do a majority of the work. 

Boschee said she has a mental checklist of what needs to be done from client meetings to the green shirt her son needs for his holiday program. 

"Little things that are so small and really don't mean anything but they do if they're not done," she said, "There is just something always going on. There is something in the pipeline and especially when you're working, you just have more pipelines."

Geeser said when it comes to jobs at home, he defers to his wife. And while he feels like he's handling his stress, he's not sure if he can speak for his wife. 

"While one partner might be handling the stress, the other may see it differently," he observed.

D'Aniello said families need to have strategies to combat the feeling of being over scheduled and the stress that comes with it.

She suggests people abandoned the need to be perfect, find ways to exercise flexibility, schedule time for themselves and parents should find time to be together as a couple.

And while many people's parents or grandparents did not face the same stressors, it is how modern life works for many people. 

"We're called to do so many things," she said, "We're called to work longer and harder at work." 

Carissa D'Aniello, UNLV associate professor, marriage and family therapy 
Kimberly Scott Boschee, owner, Presentation Matters;  Michael Geeser, regional director for government affairs, CSAA

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Prior to taking on the role of Broadcast Operations Manager in January 2021, Rachel was the senior producer of KNPR's State of Nevada program for 6 years. She helped compile newscasts and provided coverage for and about the people of Southern Nevada, as well as major events such as the October 1 shooting on the Las Vegas strip, protests of racial injustice, elections and more. Rachel graduated with a bachelor's degree of journalism and mass communications from New Mexico State University.