Family Life

Dad praises himself for ‘helping’ to make his kid’s lunches until he comes to a stark realisation

Mike Reynolds is a dad and husband who documents his family life on his blog Everyday Girl Dad.

But this week as he made his kids lunches, he had a sudden realisation, all while contemplating how good he was for giving his wife a ‘break’.

Very often men are praised for taking the children, or cleaning the house because they’re just so good for giving Mum a break.

But in reality… is it not a part of their job too?

Mike, realising his train of thought was out of whack, posted his honest thoughts, saying he was in fact, guilty:

“The simple fact that I thought of making lunches as "helping" reminded me of how unfairly labour can be distributed in the household.”

We’re listening Mike…

“Imagine the privilege, or lack of understanding, to be able to refer to doing work around the house as ‘helping’.”

Discussing the odd jobs that need to be taken care of around the house, and the different memos every parent needs to remember, the dad correctly refers to it as ‘equitably splitting labour’ and warns:

“If you find yourself thinking this way, fix it right away. Don't let it linger.”

Before reminding people that this isn’t just a dad problem, sometimes the shoe is on the other foot too, and no one person should be doing the majority load.

“If you're only "helping" then I bet you there is someone in your house who is feeling overworked and emotionally sapped.”

Sharing is caring, and this is something we strongly believe in.

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