Column

Eithne Shortall: Women normally carry the dull and exhausting but vital ‘mental load’ of parenting

Even if parents theoretically participate equally in parenthood, the woman is almost always the one doing the bulk of logistical and forward planning

‘I am carrying the bulk of the mental load and I don’t know any working parents where the dynamic is otherwise . . . The mental load is dull and vital and exhausting’

One evening last week, I went for a walk. It had been a busy day of constantly doing things but not getting enough done. When the laptop was closed, the kids were in bed and the house returned to some semblance of order, I ignored the lure of the couch and headed out the door. Time to decompress, to relinquish the mental juggle and wind down.

Of course, I didn’t just go for an aimless ...