When I feel overwhelmed, I make lists. The busy-ness and everything that has been pulling me in a million different directions lately prompted me to enumerate the many, many
responsibilities required to run a household and raise children. I think of these in terms of running an organisation, because that’s what families are: tiny units of socio-economic
activity.
Here’s is my attempt to enumerate and make visible the invisible work that can knock us off our feet:
- Chief financial/risk/compliance officer (wills, life insurance, council tax and parking permits!)
- Chief investment officer (mortgages, pension savings!)
- Chief medical/dental/optometry officer (trips to A&E, seemingly constant dentist appointments)
- Chief well-being and spiritual officer (family and individual quality time, psychological support, monitoring screen time,
activities and hobbies, religion)
- Chief clothing, appearance and grooming officer (uniforms, haircuts, cutting fingernails!)
- Chief facilities and gardening officer (house purchases and renovations, broken appliances, interior decor, security alarm)
- Chief social officer (playdates, dinner dates, birthday parties, gifting)
- Chief food/nutrition officer (meal planning, monitoring sweetie intake)
- Chief strategy officer (family values, household planning, family meetings)
- Chief travel and entertainment officer (travel research and booking, arts/films/books)
- Chief technology officer (figuring out parental controls on all the devices)
- Chief pet officer
- Chief HR officer (hiring, motivating and firing nannies, babysitters and cleaners)
- Chief schooling/learning & development officer (school curriculum, tutoring, parent teacher conferences, homework, school
research and admissions, teaching life skills)
- Chief transport and vehicle officer (car/bicycle maintenance, permits, servicing)
- Chief procurement officer (insurance, telecoms, big purchases)
- Chief enforcement officer (reward charts, remembering to implement punishments…I mean ‘consequences’)
