Leisure and Labor

A 3-part reflection on work and rest: Part 1

The past two weeks or so, I’ve stepped into a “caregiving” role in my family.

You might imagine “caregiving” as looking after someone who is unwell and/or unable to tend to themselves. However, in this household (I almost wrote “my household” but that’s not true, I am but a visitor here), caregiving = unpaid domestic labor.

You see, in my parents’ household (which usually comprises of my parents and my brother), my mum is the one who does 90% of the cooking, cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, and other household chores.

Now, she’s had surgery on her shoulder and has to keep her arm immobilized for 4-6 weeks post-surgery. She will also have to go through an additional 2-3 months of physiotherapy after that before she regains the full function of her arm.

With her arm out of commission, almost all the work she was doing around the house for the family needs to be done by other members of the household.

So when I say I’m in a “caregiving” role now, what I really mean is that I’ve volunteer…