There was a time when I would change my sheets weekly. I did this with pride, it was the chore that always got done over the weekend, even if there was no food in the fridge (common) and a drying rack covered in sweaters and underwear in the middle of the apartment for days.
This year the sheets fell behind. And I am so over my smug weekly sheet washing. If there’s one thing babies do, it’s trim the fat on your time.
This is the advice to new mothers about housekeeping: lower your standards. Aka get over yourself. Choose happy self and happy kid over perfect house. You can’t do all three.
I listened to this great interview with Margeuerite Deslauriers (philosophy professor and founder of McGill’s Institute for Gender, Sexuality, and Feminisit Studies) about the emotional work that women kill themselves doing. They are stressed out and exhausted and it’s completely off balance with what men give in this area. This is a real issue of course, but the professor had a suggestion for managing it: ask yourself if it actually needs doing. And if it does, must you always be the one doing it?
Like emotionally supporting your coworker through her breakup? Sending birthday cards to every friend every year?
Is doing these things moving you toward a more enriched, fully lived life? Probably not. Is weekly sheet cleaning? Nope.
I’m talking about living life as an active verb, here. Not dragging your feet from obligation to obligation.
Which means letting go of the things you think you should be doing and instead finding better stuff to do.
Better stuff as defined by you, for you.
A good friend came over today and brought a Christmas card. And inside there was a gift card. The thought to reciprocate this hadn’t even entered my mind. What can you do? Say thanks sincerely, make her a grilled cheese sandwich and drive her home. Then let it go.
Christmas is a vulnerable time for measuring yourself against other people. Everyone’s getting together, dressed in their finest, on best behaviour and exchanging gifts. If you’re feeling down and perfectionistic after the holidays, find something to do that moves you toward a more enriched, fully-lived life.
Not laundry.
Not gratuitous emotional support.
Not unhealthy comparisons to people who are more planful gifters than you are.
Mine is writing this. What’s yours?
Yes to all of this. Social media has made life much more difficult to anyone susceptible to peer pressure. 🙂
Absolutely!