Parents and children have at least three disagreements a day, with mothers causing most of the rows, according to new research..
By Harriet Alexander Source: The Telegraph >> Read Article
Published: 10:09AM GMT 13 Nov 2009
The most common rows are over household chores, children “treating the house like a hotel”, and couples taking each other for granted, a survey of 3,000 families found.
Fights flare up three times a day, usually lasting for five minutes. Families spend 91 hours a year arguing, with mothers the worst culprits for shouting and sulking.
Mark De Netto, spokesman for family databaseUinvue – who organised the research – said: “It was interesting to note that mum still seems to play the pivotal role within the family.
“However the results do show that dads are getting far more involved.”
Researchers found that daughters were most likely to slam doors during an argument, while fathers preferred to go for a long drive to cool off.
Television was a big source of disagreement, with mothers preferring soap operas, fathers wanting to watch sport or documentaries, and children arguing for films or reality TV shows.
Mr De Netto said: “Although arguments are a common factor in all families, our results show that they play a vital role in building and strengthening bonds within the family and act as a release valve for family members, so minor arguments do play a positive role in family life.
“We do still think it is worthwhile counting slowly to ten sometimes.”
One in ten of the families polled said they were not on speaking terms at the time of the survey.
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Maybe mum just needs a good night out?
