Mike
In the hustle and bustle of our daily lives, it’s easy to overlook the invisible yet immensely significant weight that our loved ones carry – the “mental load.” When it comes to maintaining a happy and harmonious household, especially in the context of a committed partnership, acknowledging and sharing this mental load is paramount.
Recently, one husband and father, Michael Vaughn, aka World Shaker, went viral for sharing how he lightens his wife’s “mental load” before leaving on a work trip, knowing she will be all alone taking care of the kids.
“Reducing the mental load for your partner is not just about when you’re in the house, it’s also about when you’re out of it”
“I have to leave for a conference for six days. And that means my partner gets 100% of the child responsibilities and the household responsibilities. She says she doesn’t mind, but I know it’s a lot, so here are some simple things I’m doing now to help her later when I won’t be here.
Earlier, I vacuumed the house so she could start with clean floors, washed and folded all the laundry so that she could start with no clothes. (That did not come out the way I intended.)”
“After I put our oldest to bed, I’m going to do the dishes so she can have clean dishes. Since I usually pack our toddler’s lunch, I pre-pack parts of it so it’s just grab and go in the morning.”
“And since she’s going to have to wrangle both kids in the morning, I put together 5 outfits for our toddler. By the way, for the partners watching this who don’t usually put together outfits for their kids, it’s not that simple. It’s not just about what matches or looks nice together.
I looked at the weather report to base these outfits. Like, Wednesday is a light shirt and pants because it’s going to be warm and it’s not going to rain, so they’ll be out on the playground. Friday, it’ll be cold, so a heavier pant, a long-sleeved T-shirt and a sweatshirt.”
“And I booked a hotel room for her so she can have some time to herself after I get back. I’m not trying to grandstand. These are small things with big impact.”
See the Tiktok here:
@world.shaker Reducing #mentalload outside the house #fairplay #relationship #relationships #marriage #parents #parenting #kids
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