Here's A Shock for Women

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Sometimes, says Lepore, she calls home to see how everybody's doing. Her husband replies, "We're cuddled up watching a video," and she thinks, "I'm going to a budget meeting." She admits to a pang when Andrew calls for his father in the middle of the night. "But on the other hand, I think about how lucky Andrew is to be so close to his dad." When Sarah Fitts leaves for her law firm while husband Rob and 1-year-old Simon are playing cars, she occasionally thinks, "Maybe I did get the short end of the stick. But it doesn't really matter. It's a family unit, and it's how we all go together."

And it sure does relieve the strain on a family. There is laughter again in the Sueltz family, where Steve handles everything from Christmas cards to cleaning toilets. "I have my chores," he says. "Kathleen has her chores." When Pat says she has chores, Steve shakes his head. "Pat has no chores," he teases. "I'm trying to get her to put her clothes in the hamper."