Women & Summer: May not be the most relaxing time of the year

The excitement of planning the summer holidays, describing to peers your dream vacation, the anticipation of waking up late and lingering over a cup of coffee.  Sounds like a dream right?  Except this is not always true for women, who take on the majority of the care and home workload.

We expect the summer holidays to be relaxed and being able to have time for ourselves, but the reality hits us when we are in our summer destination/second home and we realize expectations of a dream vacation don´t match our new routine. 

Kids are out of school – Let’s be honest, school, besides learning, socializing, etc., also functions as childcare, as it provides a secure environment for your kids.  And this hits women, especially those with limited resources, as they cannot afford childcare, pay for sports/activity lessons, and it’s even worse for single mothers who have to quit their jobs in order to take care of their kids.   According to this article by Stanford,  women's unemployment peaks in the summer months: School's out: Summer breaks tied to women leaving work | Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR).  It is also the case in Spain, according to this article by Fundación La Caixa: La conciliación familiar en verano, un mal negocio para las ...

Extended family – The summer holidays are great excuses for grilling up barbecues, family gatherings and having friends over.  Again, the excess home workload is carried on by the women in the family, but also the pressure and expectations of having an instagrammable home and family. 

Excess home workload – During the summer months there is an excess home workload due to:

• Increase on the number of meals & frequency

• More cleaning and laundry due to more outings to the beach, pool, swimming, and having more family & friends over.

  
  

The excess home workload is aggravated by having less time to do chores thus generating stress during your supposedly ‘peaceful summer retreat’.

Now, what can we do to avoid taking on all the toll of the excess home workload and turn the situation around?

• Ask for help – do a summer house chores chart/calendar involving all the family members

• Reserve time for you – having a long walk, sipping a glass of wine and watching the sunset

• It's ok to say “No” – be selective on your social calendar and feel free to avoid the FOMO

• Accepting we are not perfect – expectations of having everything perfect at all times is consuming and draining

• Don´t be afraid to be vulnerable – its ok to express your emotions and not keep it all in, especially if you are going through an important life change such as menopause, postpartum, etc.

Managing expectations, being realistic about our own particular family holidays and sharing the home workload is the first step of having a more relaxed summer and hopefully avoiding this phrase “I need another vacation to rest from the summer holidays”.

Any other ideas to ease the home workload during the summer months?  Let us know, we want to hear from you.

Alma Ortiz

Leader of Lean In Circle Women Mentorship Program