If there’s one thing that bothers me, it’s food. Thinking about meals, shopping… it never ends with four kids at home. A mental burden that weighs on women, obviously.
Come on, I’ll go, I’ll start, I’ll tell you about something that weighs heavily on me in my life as a mother of a large family. I called the mental load… the food. Yes, I’ll tell you about food, meals, shopping, the fridge to fill. In my rather egalitarian couple this task still falls to me.like 88% of you (women) according to a survey Opinionway of 2022. Obviously he also does the shopping, but most of the time it’s because I ask him to or on the fly when we need something. I think about it a lot, right now as I’m writing to you, for example, I’m thinking about my minced steaks that I urgently need to put in the freezer. An entire program.
2h41 is the average time we spend doing the shopping per week
I have opted for Leclerc delivery for several months now (no, this is not a sponsored newsletter, read on), but I always forget something “Fuck olive oil.” «Damn sponges “. Or I’m not careful and duplicating my previous order, skip canceling some products and end up with 18 rolls of absorbent paper that I’ll swarm all the closets telling myself that I’m definitely not green. What particularly bothers me is that when you pay you are told that some products are no longer available. “Here, fortunately, are exactly the ones I ABSOLUTELY needed”. Then I become conspiratorial. “Leclerc wants my skin “.
They eat so much
But that’s not all friends. For several weeks I have had the impression that as soon as I finished this food job – it’s not the only one, there’s also the butcher, fruit and vegetables – there’s already nothing left to eat. I laughed some time ago when my sister told me about her neighbor, a mother of 5, who lived nearby 12 yogurts a day. It’s sad to tell you that I’m not that far away and that I have this feeling I spend my life buying yogurt, and what’s more I don’t like it, this is the best, right? If you see a girl half dressed in her pajamas in front of the dairy department of Auchan on Place de Clichy (Paris) at 11pm, look no further, it’s me.
Running out of ideas?
Shopping is boring, we agree, and eating, shall we talk about it? I admit I can’t take it anymore. I have no more ideas, I have no more time, I don’t know what to feed him anymore. The worst thing is the weekend, I seem to spend part of it in my head in the dishwasher. I tried to think weekly menus, but I think that put even more pressure on me. I wanted to get inspired recipe ideas from influencers. They call it humbly “Everyday cuisine”. My eye. I never would have had time to cook these one-pot veggie empanadas and eggplant curry. Best of all, there’s no way my kids would agree to eat it. My parents have an annoying habit of loving a recipe and then, as soon as you start making it more regularly, they don’t want it anymore.
I try to anticipate, but spending Sunday in the kitchen, no thanks
Lately I’ve been trying to prepare a large meal on Sunday, very invigorating, that lasts two days. Lasagna, shepherd’s pie, we are away from lentil dahl or quinoa risottobut they already are super proud of myself. I won’t teach you, getting a group of 2 to 12 year olds to eat vegetables is a real challenge. Little ones like vegetables, even leeks with vinaigrette, I was told in kindergarten. My eldest is also committed and has taken a sudden passion for cooking, it’s cute. He makes cucumbers with cream, guacamole, I won’t tell you about the mess later. But the youngest, there is nothing to be done, he isolates the green vegetables and throws them in the garbage. Always be wary of a child who resolves things too quickly.
Brief, all the thinking about the meal is up to me, it takes a long time, but that’s how it is. I know that my partner does other things, but they are less repetitive. I complain, I like to complain, you know me by now, but I am fortunate to have the means to eat properly. I can’t imagine the energy, the organization, the imagination parents must demonstrate when money is tight. I’m leaving you, I have to go buy some juice, they throw out almost a bottle a day.
Listen to Apéro des Daronnes, Madmoizelle’s show that aims to break down taboos on parenting.
Source: Madmoizelle

Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.