Dear Dinah

By Jeannie Seely-Smith, Jeannie Seeley Smith, Jeannie Seeley-Smith

You both work full time, so how did you get the job of full-time maid? In dual income households-that's a whopping 70% of American families--there's been a critical evolutionary lag when it comes to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0972525025
• ISBN13: 9780972525022
• Release Date: August 2003
• Publisher: Authors of Unity Publishing
• Length: 248 Pages
• Weight: 0.94 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.8" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

One of the better books on the subject

Many things about our society and the roles that men and women play within that society have changed over the last several decades. Included in this social change has been the return of so many mothers to the workforce in an attempt to make ends meet. Unfortunately, many of the social norms of the past have not adapted to these changes. "Dear Dinah" author Jeannie Selley-Smith points out that household roles have been some of the slowest to change and the traditional male and female roles are in the greatest need of change. This is nothing new, as many writers, women's groups, psychologists, and others have pointed out the inequity of the man coming home to relax after work and the woman continuing to come home only to face the chores of running the household.Ms. Seeley-Smith does address basic personality types and how to use them to create more of a partnership in your marriage. While she really addresses nothing new, her writing style is humorous and witty and makes the book a joy to read. If you are looking for a book to help resolve the inequity of this situation there are many available, but few are both helpful and as entertaining a read as "Dear Dinah". Hopefully we will see more works from the pen of Ms. Seeley-Smith, but in an area that has been less thoroughly covered already as this one has been.

You will no regret this book

In general, I approach most of the "self-help" literature with a heavy dose of skepticism. Dear Dinah requires no such remedy. It is a very well reasoned manual for dual working couples living in the new millennium. My wife and I are both professionals and typically let household chores get done on a desultory basis -- more often than not (I can admit) my better half picks up the slack. Finally, we agreed that it was ludicrous not to have a more organized household. The detailed, yet straight forward, quizzes provided in the book were extremely useful in dividing up responsibilities. Given the amount of time we spending planning our workdays, it is amazing how little time we devote to planning our homework. Dear Dinah helped us alleviate that problem.

Dinah - can you live with us?!

Dear Dinah really helped me identify and articulate what was bothering me about the unfair balance of work in my household without sounding like a nag or whiner. I was able to talk to my husband about having a more balanced share of the workload in our home and was able to do it in a way that didn't put either of us on the defensive-which until now was impossible! Her household personality quiz is like a "how to" guide in understanding how your spouse ticks-and what ticks him off! This book can actually wipe out the resentments we hold against our spouses and create a brand new partnership where everybody wins!

An excellent read

I loved this book. Nothing is more important than household harmony. Take the time to read this with your mate and you will not be disappointed. A fun, warm and positive way to approach the equity of household duties. My husband and I broke through some long standing resentments and worked together to create a better, stronger, well oiled household machine!