The Thinkers and Doers of All the Things Are Tired

I was telling a friend how exhausting some of the invisible labor is around here, and she laughed and said, “What is invisible labor?”

Here was my explanation…

It’s the mountain of things no one but me sees around here. It’s things like remembering to take out the trash, but oh crap, we are almost out of trash bags and we don’t like the trash bags from Kroger, so I should put it on the Costco list instead. And while we are at Costco we should get some more string cheese for the school lunches. Oh no, the lunchbox it’s still in the car where it’s been sitting all weekend. Lord knows what’s growing in that thing now. And even though our kindergartener won’t ever eat anything green on her dinner plate, she would probably try to lick the fungus growing on the half-eaten yogurt inside so that needs to be retrieved ASAP.

Speaking of fungus, I really need to do a load of laundry now because my husband’s dirty socks are spilling out of the hamper, and he hates wearing dress socks to work, but that may be all that’s left if I don’t start a load today. That reminds me while we are at Costco I should definitely add laundry detergent to the list. And dog food. How are we out of dog food already? How many dogs are we feeding? Oh man, I really need to take this dog on a walk and get a lint roller. Why is she still shedding . . . it’s winter?!?!

My black leggings are covered in her fur, but who cares because they are starting to look gray? I’ve worn them so much. Man, I wonder if we have hard water or just crappy detergent. We really should get that checked out, and oh no, it’s almost time to go pick up the kid from school, but I still need to make a grocery list for after and pack a snack because by the time she hits the car, she is starved. OMG, what are we even having for dinner? I forgot to thaw out the hamburger! Guess it’s soup and sandwiches tonight, but we are almost out of bread so someone’s getting the heel and definitely going to complain . . . I’ll just take it to shut everyone up. Oh well, at least we have cheese! Wait, did I add cheese to the Costco list?

That my friends is the invisible labor of the household runners in your life. Appreciate them. They are thinking of all the things you didn’t even realize needed to be thought about, and they are doing all the things you didn’t know needed to be done. Surprise them with a date this week—anywhere but Costco.

Previously published on the author’s Facebook page

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Pamela Chandler

Pamela Chandler is a freelance writer, mother, and wife living and thriving in Dayton, OH. She currently chronicles her life parenting and homeschooling her neurodivergent child at @TheChandlerCrew. You can also find her weekly Gem City Family column every Sunday in the Dayton Daily News.