“My mother didn’t work”?! She likely worked harder than your Dad.
I don't think so. He worked for the NY Central Railroad in Rochester, New York for the majority of his life. Initially he was a laborer, then at some point became a track foreman and was responsible for inspecting the tracks and signals daily in his region, and repairing them if possible. Every night he had to sit down at the kitchen table and write reports about what they'd inspected, repaired, and what repairs needed larger machinery to fix. He also filled out the payroll for the road crew he had. During the winter, he'd get home at four, eat dinner, lay down for a while, then get up at midnight and work until 4 p.m. the next day. Did that several days in a row when the weather was bad. Tracks had to be cleared of snow and ice. He worked right alongside his crew until the day he retired, which only lasted 7 years until he passed. Not bad for an 8 year old immigrant who came to this country from Holland in 1913, and who only went to the 4th grade.
He also suffered from Osteomyelitis (infection of the bone) he contracted as a kid after injuring his leg. He had scars up and down his leg, and one leg was shorter than the other because of the disease. He had a constant running wound on his upper arm that drained pus, and the bandage, had to be changed every day. After all those years, the infection had worked its way up from his leg, and took hold of the upper arm. They didn't treat it back then. If the wound closed up, another would eventually open in another spot. He had it until the day he died. Never complained about it, never lost a day of work because of it.