Have you heard of the “mental load” or “invisible labor”? The mental load refers to the work associated with having children and managing a household and family that no one sees— remembering to schedule doctor’s appointments, planning family social activities and holidays, arranging appointments for house maintenance and repairs, booking travel plans, planning for meals and snacks, registering children for school and summer camp, and even reading posts like this one.
The mental load is often discussed in negative terms, focusing on the stress and unseen work that go into carrying this burden. And, of course, it is important that we recognize the immense burden of the mental load but in practice, how the mental load impacts us may be more complicated. New research even suggests that there may be some positive impacts associated with carrying the mental load. It goes without saying that we should all push for societal changes that will minimize the mental load that all parents carry and make sure neither parent carries an unequal share of this burden. But, in the meantime, recognizing........