There are things no one sees me do. They are not secret. They are not hidden. Small things. Unimportant-seeming things. They go unnoticed. That is, unnoticed until they are not done. I think of them as invisible parenting.
They are things like:
Keeping an eye on minor ailments (rashes, itches, tummy pains) and changes in behaviour (wetting pants, tiredness) to see whether they are something or nothing.
Shaking the sand out of the children’s shoes after they’ve been playing in the kindergarten sand pit.
Keeping the swimming things together in one bag and keeping that bag in the same place, always.
Picking up stray shoes, clothes, toys, spoons, jigsaw pieces from various places around the house and putting them back where they belong.
Subconsciously doing an inventory of the contents of the fridge and presses so that I know if we have milk, ketchup, yogurts, fruit or other snacks before they get asked for.
Knowing the nappy and wipe stock levels at any time but especially on Saturdays since on Sundays all shops here are closed.
Planning breakfast and packed lunches in my mind before I go to bed.
Putting away clothes for the holidays weeks before we go.
Checking schoolbags for spilt drinks, melted sweets or notes from teachers.
Checking the school and kindergarten lost & found baskets for missing gloves, scarves, PE shorts and odd socks.
Writing appointments into the kitchen calendar and turning the page each month.
I’m sure I am not the only mother to perform acts of invisible parenting. Do you?
I love all the information you retain like the frequency of toiletings. You often don't realise you have it until called on.
Exactly! A lot of it is not consciously done, you just absorb the information and process it as needed.
I love this idea of invisible parenting. I am totally outnumbered by males in my house (even the dog is male) and I have come to realise that they genuinely don't see the things I do/pick up/organise etc. I'd love to live in their wonderful world where things happen by magic!
Too true, we do so much that isn't even noticed by the family huh! Where do you live that shops are still closed on Sunday?! That's foreign in my world 🙂 #TheList
Same here Anita. it just doesn't register with them. I keepthinking if I had a clone of myself we could take in turns to do the chores and relax.
I live in Germany. It was a shock when I moved here first that shops closed at midday on Saturday and didn't open again till 8am on Monday. The Saturday ours have been extended, but Sunday is still a day off.
Ooh yes, I do an awful lot of invisible parenting! Great post lovely. Thanks for linking up with #TheList x
We all do in some way or other, don't we? We mothers anyway. Not so sure about the dads 😉