I looked at the family calendar and felt like I was managing a small company

Dear Delyara, Dentist on Tuesday. Parents’ evening on Thursday. Football on Wednesday. Swimming on Saturday. My husband away one night next week. Prescription collection. Birthday card to buy. Non-uniform day. A school payment due Friday. My own GP call squeezed into a lunch break if I’m lucky. I stood there with the pen in my hand and thought, this is not a life, this is operations. That thought made me laugh and nearly cry at the same time. I know everyone has responsibilities. I know I am not special in that. Still, there are moments when the administrative side of family life becomes so visible that I can’t pretend it’s all “just what mums do” without feeling angry on behalf of all of us. I wrote the dates in carefully anyway. Because if I don’t, the calendar doesn’t manage itself.