I think that is where the term 'Ball and Chain' originated from...(Ducking for cover). At any rate, I think that is the hardest part about having kids, you can't find time to just sit down and relax (unless they fall asleep). If you don't watch out for them they will injure themselves, etc. If one defines work as responsibility, then one can see a woman at home with 7 kids out works most people easily.
The other side of the coin is time - If someone marries and has a kid at 20 and the woman opts to stay home then she can semi-retire at 38 when the child grows up and moves on whereas the male in that scenario will still have almost 30 yrs more work (and again, this is a generalization, sometimes they are more problems when 18 then when they are 3).
Yeah, that works if you don't have the next kid at 23, and the next at 26, and the next at 30, and the next at 31, etc., etc.
I think everyone would be happier if each gender recognized that the work of the other is difficult, stressful, and sometimes unrewarding ... but it has to be done, anyway. Being an adult means responsibility, one way or another.