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ailbheGod this period nonsense is too much. I still can't tell whether I have had 4 periods since Astrid's birth - that is, in under 8 weeks, because before that I had postnatal discharge called "lochia" which is similar but not the same and doesn't come with ovulation pain - or just pain followed by bleeding for no reason.
Oh, followed by bad temper, emotional lability, liability, whatever, and bleeding. Yeah.
Anyway today I was hanging laundry in the garden and thinking, as I often do, of that bit in WifeWork where she talks about how housework is actually skilled labour.
It is. I sorted the laundry and hung it depending on what I wanted to achieve. The nappies were hung outdoors so that the sun could bleach them, and I hung them in the right way on the line for that to happen. They were washed with vinegar to soften them, and before hanging I snapped them sharply four times each, holding each side in turn, to make them dry flat and comfortable for the baby to wear. That snap is something Rob can't do, by the way, in spite of trying; it's a knack he hasn't been able to learn. Knack means skill, I think.
Sorting laundry is not unskilled work, either. I find it easy, but I know people who find it really tricky to remember which clothes need what treatment, and who either read all the labels all the time or only buy things which can be boilwashed. I have learned to remember which garments are what and choose their laundry treatments accordingly.
Then there's mealplanning, making shopping lists, cooking, serving, cleaning up - all that stuff needs to be learned, and some people never do it.
My children don't know what an ironing board is, mind you. They can chop vegetables with proper knives, though, because I care about food and not hugely about clothes. So some of this is about priorities. What skills people choose to pass on.
Distracting an unhappy child, or mediating in a toy rights dispute, or brushing a child's hair or putting socks on or cutting nails - those are all skilled tasks.
I wonder where one can learn them, if one hasn't had an example growing up?
Oh, followed by bad temper, emotional lability, liability, whatever, and bleeding. Yeah.
Anyway today I was hanging laundry in the garden and thinking, as I often do, of that bit in WifeWork where she talks about how housework is actually skilled labour.
It is. I sorted the laundry and hung it depending on what I wanted to achieve. The nappies were hung outdoors so that the sun could bleach them, and I hung them in the right way on the line for that to happen. They were washed with vinegar to soften them, and before hanging I snapped them sharply four times each, holding each side in turn, to make them dry flat and comfortable for the baby to wear. That snap is something Rob can't do, by the way, in spite of trying; it's a knack he hasn't been able to learn. Knack means skill, I think.
Sorting laundry is not unskilled work, either. I find it easy, but I know people who find it really tricky to remember which clothes need what treatment, and who either read all the labels all the time or only buy things which can be boilwashed. I have learned to remember which garments are what and choose their laundry treatments accordingly.
Then there's mealplanning, making shopping lists, cooking, serving, cleaning up - all that stuff needs to be learned, and some people never do it.
My children don't know what an ironing board is, mind you. They can chop vegetables with proper knives, though, because I care about food and not hugely about clothes. So some of this is about priorities. What skills people choose to pass on.
Distracting an unhappy child, or mediating in a toy rights dispute, or brushing a child's hair or putting socks on or cutting nails - those are all skilled tasks.
I wonder where one can learn them, if one hasn't had an example growing up?