Recommended Soundtrack: Handshakes by Metric
I’m in the very privileged position of being able to work from home. I do knowledge work in the financial sector and we were deemed essential during the confinement in response to COVID 19. My beloved is also able to work from home.
Our other family members studied from home in the spring but now have jobs outside the house. But. Like. Folks. 5 people at home working, studying and eating 24/7 has really ramped up the housework.
We’ve felt it in the frequency of dishes needing to be done, bathrooms that need a scrub down (those at work toilet breaks really decrease the usage of the home crapper) and general need to tidy & clean taking more and more time. Plus there’s something about just sitting around that lowers my tolerance for home chaos. So the need for housework to increase is, in part, due to a higher standard and also to everyone being home. It’s exhausting.
As a feminist household we strive for an equal distribution of chores. It falls short a lot with the emerging adults, so my partner and I are really feeling the stress. It’s a very busy time of year for his sales job and my leadership role. There just seems to be no time for much else.
Enter Lucy, our seven month old puppy. She’s a Texas Heeler. For those unfamiliar with this compact, energetic mix she’s a cross between 2 herding dogs: Australian Shepherd and Australian Cattle Dog. She’s 100% ball of energy.
Before confinement we had our kids helping a lot with her care but now they are working outside the home and we are home all the dang time.
Lucy wakes up most days at 5:30 am. Regular readers of this blog know I’m not a morning person. Lucy doesn’t seem to care. She gets a 30 minute walk before we sit down to work, a quick coffee break walk around 10 am. A lunchtime 20-30 minute walk. A pre-dinner and post dinner walk. Yup. That’s. Uh. 5. Five dog walks, mostly done with my partner. The kids help with some mornings. We appreciate it but can’t count on it.
Between longer working hours, more housework and dog walking there’s not a lot else happening for workouts. Sometimes I get a 20-40 minute yoga routine in. But that’s it.
I’m tired friends so I’ve decided to be gentle with myself. There’s a lot going on so when there are moments that I can get a nap or a visit in with a friend I’m taking it.
Lucy is very good at pacing herself. She rests, plays and stretches all the time. She doesn’t worry about having goals or living up to expectations. She’s enthusiastic about eating and being comfortable.
Has your work/life balance shifted recently? How has that impacted your workouts?
Oh Lucy is so cute! I have enjoyed more walks and bike rides around my neighbourhood since COVID 👌😊
Oh, how I know. There aren’t five humans in my house. Only one – although given the amount of laundry there is, there may be people I’ve never seen living here 😉 But seriously, see if you can give yourself two days a week of doggie daycare. I loved being home with my ball of energy dog, but as soon as his daycare re-opened, we were there! I get so much more done, so on the other days I can feel less bad about being a little disorganized and at the whim of his schedule. As in, “Sure, I can take a meeting at that time, but I’ll be walking. Do you mind?” And the other three days, *Andrea hangs head in shame*, I pay a dog walker to come take him around for a half-hour. I’m still on for the other three walks (we only do 4), but at least there’s a little reprieve.
We are definitely looking at paid options and when we return to working at the office we absolutely need dog care.
“Emerging adults fall short on chore contribution” might be the title for the last 3 months of my life! Even when I know the world will not end because the dishes are piling up, the stress of letting them pile is worse than just doing the damn things,,,