5/12/2024
Dear Diary,
As I go about my tasks at C's house - hanging out the washing, tidying the kitchen, making the bed and moving stuff from one room to another as the family prepare for an overseas visitor.. I am reminded of when my kids were little..
Those early days of mothering were long, the emotional and domestic labour relentless and the bouts of loneliness were frequent and overwhelming..
Many days I wished I had a wife, who would do all the things that needed to be done.. so that I could focus on not loosing my mind with the tsunami of stuff, to be able to pause and take in the loveliness of my children, their quirky personalities, their need for me to be fully present & not distracted, not irritated and not resentful.
My kids are adults now and honestly I'm relieved.
There's a family who lives in the apartment opposite me. The woman, A looks more and more exhausted as her new born sucks life out of her and her rumbustious toddler yells NO! to her quiet questions and requests.
The dad , B returns home each night from work, fresh faced and happy looking. The mum A often thrusts the newborn into his hands at the foot of the stairs, whilst the toddler hollers NO even louder, now that there are two sets of ears to hear their lament...
As I mothered my new borns and eked out the maternity pay, endured sleepless night, loss of self and all the other attributes of motherhood, I was just starting out in comedy and would often quip about not getting any sick leave, holiday, pay or superannuation..
As I go about my tasks as an NDIS worker, being paid an ok hourly rate. I wonder about all the women doing all the unpaid work and emotional labour of child rearing.
And I wonder who will be tidying up the Notre Dame Cathedral for Trump's visit, putting out the flowers, making sure that there is toilet paper in the toilets... I hope they get paid well whoever it is.
No comments:
Post a Comment