An overflowing mind

Earlier in the week I came across a Guardian article here , which featured a comic by a French illustrator called Emma. For those of you who haven't seen it, it describes how even when men take on chores in the household, it never works out even due to the amount of things that we have going on in our minds.

Now before I get anyone jumping down my throat, of course I'm not saying all men, or that working men don't also have things on their mind, but it is something that I too have noticed about the differences that mum's and dad's seem to have.

My partner does a lot of cooking for us, but all of the washing, cleaning, childcare etc. is down to me. Which is ok, he works full time and I don't. This is mostly due to the fact that where we are living the childcare costs the same as a months wages for me, so if I was to include travel and parking into the equation we would actually be worse off if I had gone back to work after maternity leave.

It does however mean my day often starts before his and ends well after. I was also doing all the night duty with our son up until he started sleeping through regularly at around 13 months old. I'm usually up at 6.30am and get Grayson settled for 7.30pm latest. During the day I'm on the go constantly, walking the dog, baby groups, shopping, cleaning, washing, tidying, cooking, basically whatever needs to be done. Alongside this is a constant narrative of extra things....

So the every day stuff; baby needs to be fed by this time, dog walked by this time, in order to get to baby group by this time and then back in time to make lunch and then clean the bathroom whilst he naps and get the washing on and the bins go out on this Friday and so on.

Then it gets mixed with the other things; wedding this weekend, visiting family on this day, when's my car MOT due? what about my partners, our house insurance, have I been neglecting friendships? Does Grayson need to visit the dentist yet or is he still too young....

And the even bigger picture. We're moving house. Soon. And both sets of estate agents are being wankers. Emails multiple times a week pressuring us to move faster (we're renting and in no way want to be paying for two houses at once), or organising viewings of the house we're currently in without asking us if we're in that day and offering to let themselves in - last time they left our front door open, I don't trust them at all. We also have a dog who will be very confused if a stranger lets themselves into our home.

I'm also planning a hen do for my best friend, chasing people for RSVPs, trying to get accommodation booked, wondering if I can loose enough weight by then to fit into my old dresses....

So I'm not saying that men don't worry, but whoever the majority of household chores and childcare falls upon ends up under a whole bunch of pressure, especially as there are a lot of women who will be working part time (or full time) and taking all this on as well.