About this blog
At the beginning of 2020, all of our lives changed in a way we had never experienced before. I count myself among a very privileged generation that never experienced a war in the western world. I would also never go so far as to compare the corona pandemic to wars. Nevertheless, the pandemic is an exceptional situation, and it has had an immense and uncontrollable impact on our lives, which have so far been quite linear.
When the pandemic started, I was pregnant with my second child, who was fortunately born healthy and safe in April 2020 - two weeks after the first lockdown began. When Ava was born, I naturally asked myself how my daughter's birth would go if the hospitals were overcrowded, whether my husband would be allowed to go into the delivery room at all, and whether, in the worst case, the entire healthcare system would collapse. Luckily everything went smoothly. Only later did I realize that these issues were almost irrelevant compared to the time after the birth.
It got more exciting when our whole family was suddenly at home together. When my son was born in 2017, I spent the parental leave year going for walks with friends, going to cafés and taking countless baby classes to keep the child and myself happy. Ava shouldn't have all of that at once. But not only that. In addition, my three-year-old son's day care center was closed for a long time and my husband worked in the home office. Wow, what a change for all of us! At the same time, looking back, I'm very happy that I haven't had a child of school age, unlike many of my friends. These experienced a completely different challenge during the corona pandemic. Despite everything, it was a tough time and a test for the four of us as a family.
At that time, my friend Victoria and I intensified our conversations, exchanging views on being a mother, being a wife, being an employee, and how we balance all of those things. We quickly dealt with the topic of "mental load" - the mental load that many young parents carry. We could find ourselves in all our research on the subject in many articles and posts. However, the prevailing "man vs. woman" mindset bothered us enormously. It seemed as if the main issue was dividing the parties and balancing the rights and duties of living together. Although we both define ourselves as feminists light, we noticed how little we support this pure male bashing. Unlike the many contributions to the debate, which portray the woman as a victim of her incompetent husband's laziness, we stand for a more differentiated view of "mental load".
First out of frustration, then out of passion, we founded the consulting company "JUST LOAD". We are editors of the book "The no BS guide to reducing the mental load". Victoria and I speak English with each other, so the book is initially only available in that language. Of course, we accompany individuals and couples in several languages: English, German and French. If you are interested in the topic of mental load and would like to read more about it, I cordially invite you to follow Victoria's blog for the latest posts on the topic. Of course, as a coach, I am always available to advise you, especially on this topic.
