My wife charges me to edit documents?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I received this email from my wife yesterday. I asked her to edit a CV for my cousin. He's applying to grad school in the US. I am not originally from the US. My wife says her labour is not free. She also said this about breastfeeding too but she did not ask me to pay her for that. We switched to forumula after a few months. Isn't this a bit cold? In the past, I have asked her to edit many of my PhD documents but she says it's better to hire someone who is a professional writer. I just wanted her to proofread the documents. She's a SAHM to one baby and says she's too busy.

Here is the email she sent me:

This is the document I revised. The content was very difficult to understand at times due to the issues with grammar. I did my best to rewrite the content for clarity and meaning. I also deleted a few sentences that didn't make sense. In the future, I would ask you to give me at least 1 week to make revisions. My rate for this document is $12. I gave you a special discount as a first time client. Going forward I will charge $25 for up to 1000 words. If you need the document edited within 24 hours there is another $20 charge. Thanks, and please recommend me to all your friends.

~Your loving wife

Give you cousin the bill.

[Anonymous]

OP, it's completely sexist of you to expect that your wife do your work for you without pay or credit.

Please checkout #thanksfortyping on Twitter.

Here's something to get you started:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/amphtml/ishmaeldaro/thanks-for-typing-with-your-two-aching-fingers?__twitter_impression=true

[Anonymous]

...I think she was trying to make you laugh, OP. She sounds like fun! You are lucky

[Anonymous]

Trade her in for a younger model. She sounds like trouble.

[Anonymous]

You’re a lucky man OP.

[Anonymous]

if your cousin is such a bad writer he is not getting in.

[Anonymous]

I've been in your wife's position before, but with my dad for whom English is a second language. First, it was highly frustrating proofreading documents when the English was badly mangled, no matter how short it was. Second, I never felt appreciated and I suspect your wife does not either. You mentioned that she is a SAHM taking care of a baby as though to say she has the time to do this. I'm sure there are a MILLION things she would rather do than edit your cousin's sh*tty CV. Next time:

1. Ask her in a way that gives her the option to say No, i.e., don't assume that she's going to do it. Ex. "My cousin's CV is a real POS, but do you mind taking a quick look at it for him and me? I know there are so many other things you would rather do. No worries if you can't."

2. Offer her a sweetener if you want her to say yes. For example, offer to take the baby for a couple hours so she has an hour to look at the CV and an hour of me time when it's a time she normally has the baby.

3. Give a sincere Thank You and do something nice for her (e.g., watch baby for a couple hours).

My guess is your wife feels like you don't acknowledge or value her contribution as a SAHM or in general. Maybe you're dismissive when she says how hard it was to breastfeed or maybe you don't offer to help out more when you can. Did you do something nice for her when she proofread your PhD documents? Get a clue and be nice to your wife.

[Anonymous]

Ugh I completely get your wife!!! My husband is Italian and when he was applying to jobs after his PhD he was constantly bothering me at work all hours of the day to edit things for him. I also had to maintain and update his professional website (adding new papers and updating where papers got accepted etc), and man it got annoying.

I didn’t have the same humor as your wife. She sounds like a gem. (Not sarcastic)

[Anonymous]

I love it!

Although, I think her rate is a bit low. I charge $250 for resume reviews.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why aren’t you editing documents for your own cousin, is my first question.

Second, if he can’t do a basic CV coherently, why is he applying for grad school?

Your wife is worth the $12 if you keep swinging her stuff to edit.

Agree! OP, tell your wife to start posting on DCUM, we'd love to have her!

[Anonymous]

At first I thought she would be billing big bucks and was pleasantly surprised to read the text.

I'd hire her in an instant!

[Anonymous]

I would be pissed to be helping dh get his PhD while I was at home caring for baby, unless I received the same level of support from him. Also, $12 is quite a bargain, and LOL, she's not an assistant you can farm out when you feel like it.

[Anonymous]

I think she has a great sense of humor but is sending a real message.

[Anonymous]

Hahaha your wife is funny!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I received this email from my wife yesterday. I asked her to edit a CV for my cousin. He's applying to grad school in the US. I am not originally from the US. My wife says her labour is not free. She also said this about breastfeeding too but she did not ask me to pay her for that. We switched to forumula after a few months. Isn't this a bit cold? In the past, I have asked her to edit many of my PhD documents but she says it's better to hire someone who is a professional writer. I just wanted her to proofread the documents. She's a SAHM to one baby and says she's too busy.

Taking advantage of your wife's services is not free. ESPECIALLY if that was her field of work or study before she became a SAHM. See the following OP and pass it along to all your PhD buddies. I really think its high-time the 'wives' behind the doctors got credit for all the work they do. If your secretaries or paralegals are getting paid to type up your work, research codices and summaries, or other academic minutiae consider $20 freaking dollars, particular for a buddy of yours, is a pretty great deal. That or a nice massage.



https://www.buzzfeed.com/ishmaeldaro/thanks-for-typing-with-your-two-aching-fingers?utm_term=.wqn14x7DAj#.ep4yKRkDb2

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/thanksfortyping-shows-once-again-wives-do-the-dirty-work_us_58dbc4b7e4b0cb23e65d4471