Author’s Pick
Being on a lockdown is a new experience for us Sri Lankans and it has been evident that there has been an increase of household responsibilities during the pandemic, especially for a female.
The kids are off school and they need to be home schooled, fed and also kept occupied or rather entertained, which is of course not an easy task even on regular days! At the same time the elders in the household need to be cared for as usual but be extra careful to make sure they are not infected with the virus.
Many households in main cities of the country depend on live in or daily domestic help, drivers and garbage collectors but in a pandemic situation, as in the current context, the household chores have multiplied for the working woman if such daily help is not available.
This is definitely not an easy time period for the women who have to manage office work as well as house work all by herself. While she tries to balance both the roles to the best of her abilities, she may feel that the family is taking her for granted since the work load in the house seems to be completed by her without complaining. Then what about the office work? She somehow finds time to complete office work as well, which may be a huge challenge with the children hanging on to her wanting more attention from their mother every single minute.
The many advice given on the internet as to “how to work from home” doesn’t seem practical in real life!
Once she completes her office work amidst all the chaos she also has to clean up after the kids and well as the others, and do the rest of the house chores while, in most cases, the others take a rest. Then when would ‘she’ have time to rest and take a break?
While, many companies practice love and respect for their female workers, this needs to be extended to the home front too – especially in the prevailing situation. She needs to be respected by her family members and all tasks at home need to be shared among all whenever possible. Most importantly, she shouldn’t be taken for granted just because she continues to strain herself to be the best in every role she plays!
At the same time let’s not forget the women in the forefront of the task force to assist curb the virus. We salute our front line heroes such as health workers, tri-forces, delivery personnel. Do not forget that they have put their lives at risk and put in long hours to serve you and me during this difficult time. Some of them don’t even visit their families due to the risk of carrying the virus and are going through a physically as well as emotionally challenging time period. No doubt that women are stretching the limits of women power at this time. While, I believe that women are usually great at balancing both home front and career beautifully, they now have to surpass themselves by working from home and also manage all other expectations from the family.
Let’s all get together today to value the ‘she’ in your own home and more than anything, to help her get through this time period, cause, just like all of us, she is human too. Let us honour the woman who “works from home” and “for the home” during this challenging times. After all not all heroes wear capes!
The contributor is an accomplished senior marketing professional with over 15 years of progressive experience across multiple industries and is the General Manager Group Marketing & Communications at Ideal Group Sri Lanka
