Is this a ‘Soft life’

[Wellthatwasabrupt]

And would you want it?

Has Dh, one young Dc and dogs, lives overseas by the beach and countryside, nice house with pool and sea views.
Works 6 hours per week from home. Does all drop offs and pick ups, food shop, dinners, majority to do with Dc and sorting bills. Has a cleaner.
Dh works Mon-Fri -finishes 4.30, no one works weekends.
Days are free based around Dc school drops, coffee with friends, Pilates, yoga, studying or reading if you like, watching Netflix all day if you like, shopping, beach, pool, garden

Would you call this a soft life? Would you like it, be honest?

Not sure what soft is.
I’d be concerned for future eg how I’m funding uni for child or my old age on 6 hours a week.
Is location a realistic choice as child gets older are their pt jobs and good educational opportunities.
Are family in same country or are you going to be worried re aging parents but too far to get there in an emergency or spend much time with them.
It all feels very child centred, empty nest could hit hard.
What type of role model are you to dc. They often need guidance re careers and work experience etc.
Lots of me focused activities. If you are sort to wallow may be too much time alone.
Nothing volunteering or community based. I find it helps me and also dc with parents who volunteer more likely to follow suit which benefits their MH and cv.

If I can remove the raise a child part yes, I’d love it.

No amount of money or softness would make me want to go to square 1 on parenting. Happily looking forward to being an aunt/grandmother.

It would be amazing for 6 months, to decompress and focus on yourself! But there is an innate need for humans to be occupied, so the novelty might wear off after a while I guess.

Dog tax?

Working more hours for you?

And what about her doing more childcare, house organisation, bills…everything else ‘For him’

Are you referring to yourself in the third person?

Sounds very chilled but I’d be very bored! I’d want something of my own and have some ambition but if it works for the individual and their partner does not mind - good for them

Don’t be silly. Everyone needs to be able to support themselves — that’s not ‘capitalism’. Everyone needs meaningful work, paid or unpaid, if they have another means of supporting themselves. The OP appears to have neither.

Who is this person op? You?

Is work the only thing you talk about with your friends?

@@d@do

Do you assume that unless you work 40 hours a week, you're too thick to be engaged in politics or the wider world? too lazy to do volunteer work without having to become some caricature of the bossy overbearing nightmare? to boring to read or watch movies or go to the theatre? to self absorbed to talk about each others lives and families?

Why just one child? How old is the child? Why would they not give the child a sibling if they can afford to? Kid must get bored.

Oh, god please not the "herself, yourself, myself" rubbish. She, She is funding it with her DH.

I work, as do all of my friends. We very, very rarely talk about work when we’re together, so I’m not sure why people are saying people who don’t work much wouldn’t have anything to talk about?

Or even worse, people you met at work. Which, apparently, makes you really interesting.

Maybe they can’t. Child very social with many friends around.

It doesn't matter if anyone else would find this life boring, uneventful, lacking in this that or the other, the important thing is - if the person is happy and content and so are those around her, it is a good life. On the other hand if such a life leads to discontent on either partner and/or her child then it's not so good.

In theory it sounds great. In reality if all the life admin stuff and house organising fell to me we’d all be fucked so it’s much better I’m in gainful employment and we pretend to split it (but really DH has it covered).

I didn’t realise there was anything wrong with writing that!

That is absolutely a soft life. No question. Whoever is living it is extremely lucky.

I’ll ask again. Are you referring to yourself in the third person?

This is very strange.

Never heard the term “soft life” so can’t comment on that.

I think it would be boring. “Watch Netflix all day” is only an appealing option if you never usually get the chance to be that lazy.

There really is a problem with writing that. Google it.

That's an awful lot of sweeping and in many cases incorrect judgements assumptions to make about only children and their parents. And I take it you realise siblings don't always get on together well enough (or are too far apart in age) to be playmates in any case?

Specifically in terms of those with other means of supporting themselves, why does everyone need meaningful work?

Many people with no other means of supporting themselves are obliged to do work that is not meaningful.

The wording is weird isn't it?

A million years ago, when I was fairly young, I briefly had a boyfriend who answered the phone by saying "Mr Blogs speaking" and if asked to speak to Joe Blogs replied "this is himself". Obviously that relationship didn't last! It made him sound like a salesman from 1952.

I wasn’t trying to write in a weird way, sorry.