Bi4*Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 20, 1988
Berks County Extension Home
Economist Taiks About The
Challenge Of The ’Bo’s:
Baiancing Home And Work
BY LOU ANN GOOD
MANHEIM Mother, colum
nist, pastor’s wife, and extension
home economist are a few words
that describe Michele Rodgers.
Lump them all together and you
know, she is one busy woman.
How does she calmly and
adequately handle all these
responsibilities?
“I’m big on being organized and
I’m good at list making,” she
answers.
Perhaps her research to com
plete her master’s thesis, “Role
Strain of Females in Dual Provider
Families, ” enabled her to get a firm
grasp on handling stress. Michele
said, “The systematic random
survey I did for the study opened
my eyes to see how fortunate I
_ _ _ *»
am.
That means, she has “an excep
tional husband who, although not
organized, is good at following the
lists I make.”
Plus she highly values her job as
Berks County extension home eco
nomist. Those positions are rare
and one she probably could not
regain if she took a few years off
for mothering.”
“It’s a big decision and a person
al one,” Michele said of her deci
sion to continue working after the
birth of Elise who celebrates her
first birthday this week.
“I really miss her while I work,”
Michele said as she fondly
watched Elise playing. “But we
have a wonderful child care situa
tion. The woman who watches
Elise is wonderful. I see her thriv
ing and I feel good about it. The
babysitter stimulates her during
the day and although I’m tired
when I come home from work, I
have enough energy to give her
time,” she added facetiously, “but
not enough lime for housework.”
Consequently, Michele has a
cleaning woman every other week.
She admits, “My standards
changed. It was hard to give up
keeping things spotless, because 1
had been raised in a family where
we scrubbed everything from the
attic to the basement.” She’s trying
to find a happy medium.
e ai jers declare that Elise has made them laugh more in the last
year thanJn the past eight years together. Ellse is a happy, gregarious child who,
Michele believes, thrives on interaction with both her parents and her babysitter.
play
being a working mom means there are adjustments and
inconveniences. “I miss sewing,” Michele said as she finds
it too frustrating with an Inquisitive one-year-old.
Basically Michele and her hus
band Steve follow task sharing,
which means they each take
responsibility to do the chores they
enjoy and do well. Michele said
her experience and the survey
show, “The greater the task shar
ing the less strain.”
Presently, Michele is develop
ing workshops that will focus on
balancing work and family, man
agement and time sharing. She has
several workshops tentatively
scheduled for the fall at a bank that
will pay their employees to take
the class. She said, “Many employ
ers are willing to work along with
their employees because they
know such classes benefit the work
environment The old-fashioned
theory that employees forget their
families when they enter the work
place simply is not true,” Michele
stressed. “Employers recognize
that fallacy and want to help enable
their people to do a belter job.”
In keeping with the theme of
balancing work and family respon
sibilities, Michele has also written
leaflets to be inserted in employees
paychecks.
Since the early ’Bos, Michele
has been writing the “Back Home”
column that appears biweekly in
this paper. Last year, she temporar
ily stopped it while she completed
her master’s degree at Penn State
University. Michele recalls that
those hectic months were no picn
ic. For three semesters, she com
muted weekly between her Man
heim home and the University
campus. She joked, “Weekly, my
sister made dinner for my husband
so that he would not become
malnourished.”
Besides adapting to graduate
school, unexpectantly but happily,
Michele became pregnant last
November. Elise was bom in
August. Michele completed her
thesis in December. “She’s go to
be a very bright baby after all that,”
Michele joked. Three months later,
Michele returned to Berks County
as the extension home economist
to pay back her sabbatical leave.
And she resumed writing her
“Back Home” column that has
won two national awards from the
extension service.
Always supportive, Steve
encourages other men to do things
with iheir children. “Don’t be
afraid to do things like changing
diapers,” he said. He believes
babies add so much to life. He said,
“Michele and I laughed more in
this past year than in the past eight
all put together.”
Concerning housework, he
admits, “I still don’t dust.” His
(Turn to Pag* B 16)
» ft»
■ .-tifjimr----'' - y-ji
See your nearest
[NEW HOLLAND
Dealer for Dependable
Equipment and Dependable
Service:
PENNSYLVANIA
Annvllle, PA
BHM Farm
Equipment, Inc
RD 1
717-867-2211
Beavertown, PA
B&R Farm
Equipment, Inc
RD 1, Box 217 A
717-658-7024
Belleville, PA
Ivan J Zook
Farm Equipment
Belleville, Pa
717-935-2948
Canton, PA
Hess Farm Equipment
717-673-5143
Carllale, PA
Paul Shovers, Inc
35 East Willow Street
717-243-2686
Chamberaburg, PA
Clugston
Implement, Inc
RD 1
717-263-4103
Davldaburg, PA
George N Gross, Inc
R D 2, Dover, PA
717-292-1673
Elizabethtown, PA
Messick Farm
Equipment, Inc
Rt 283 - Rheem's Exit
717-367-1319
Gettysburg, PA
Ymglmg Implements,
Inc
3291 Taneytown Rd
717-359-4848
Greencastle, PA
Meyers
Implement's Inc
400 N Antrim Way
P O Box 97
717-597-2176
Halifax, PA
Sweigard-Bros
RD 3, Box 13
717 896-3414
Hamburg, PA
Shartlesville
Farm Service
R D 1, Box 1392
215-488-1025
Hanover, PA
Sheets Brothers, Inc
1061 Carlisle St
Hanover, PA 17331
717-632 3660
Honey Brook, PA
Dependable Motor Co
East Main Street
215 273 3131
215 273 3737
Honey Grove, PA
Norman D Clark
& Son, Inc
Honey Grove, PA
717-734 3682
Hughesville, PA
Farnsworth Farm
Supplies, Inc
103 Cemetery Street
717-584-2106
Lebanon, PA
Keller Bros
Tractor Co
RD 7, Box 405
717-949 6501
Loysville, PA
Paul Shovers, Inc
Loysville, PA
717-789-3117
Lynnport, PA
KermiJ K Kistler, Inc
Lynnport, PA
215-298-2011
Mahaffey, PA
Hutton Farm Equipment
RD 2
814-277 5504
New Holland, PA
ABC Groff, Inc
110 South Railroad
717-354 4191
New Park, PA
M&R Equipment Inc
PO Box 16
717 993-2511
Oley, PA
C J Wonsidler Bros
RD 2
215-987-6257
Pitman, PA
Schreffler Equipment
Randy L Schreffler
Pitman, PA
717-648-1120
Quakertown, PA
C J Wonsidler Bros
RD 1
215-536-1935
Quarryville, PA
C E Wiley & Son, Inc
101 South Lime Street
717-786-2895
Ringtown, PA
Rmgtown Farm
Equipment
Ringtown, PA
717-889-3184
Tamaqua, PA
Charles S Snyder,
RD 3
717-386-5945
West Grove, PA
S G Lewis & Son
R D 2, Box 66
215 869 2214
MARYLAND
Churchville, MD
Walter G Coale, Inc
2849 53
Churchville Rd
301 734-7722
Frederick, MD
Ceresville
Ford New Holland, Inc
Rt 26 East
301 662 4197
Outside MD
800 331 9122
Hagerstown, MD
Antiotam Ford Tractor
301 791 1200
NEW JERSEY
Washington, NJ
Frank Rymon & Sons
201 689 1464
Woodstown, NJ
Owen Supply Co
Broad Street &
East Avenue
609-769-0308