The parenting chore I secretly love (and the one I’d happily trade with Meghan Markle)

Honestly a lot of what she said was quite relatable. 

I’m late to the party, but I listened to Meghan Markle (Meghan Sussex?) on The Jamie Kern Lima Show. It was pretty innocent, a chat with her friend who happens to have a podcast.

She’s a Duchess who lives in a mansion with a prince, but honestly a lot of what she said was quite relatable - she enjoys being with her kids. Same.

She likes creating memories with them. Same.

She loves doing their lunchboxes every day. Sa- no wait, what?!  

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I must say, smugly, I have done this too.

I hit rewind; surely I misheard. “I love doing lunch boxes. It makes me very happy,” Meghan said, crystal clearly.

She even writes little notes for them, so sweet. I must say, smugly, I have done this too.

When my eldest was in Kindergarten and the younger two still in daycare. I definitely peaked early, with only one lunchbox to pack.

I was so smug, I posted a photo of my favourite note — a camel I’d drawn (following a YouTube tutorial) for ‘Hump Day’ because my son was counting down to the weekend.

Notes aside, lunchbox making is not high on my enjoyment list — when I asked my Mum friends, it wasn’t on theirs either.

The word “hate” came up more than once (not just from me), and one friend said lunch boxes are “the worst 15 minutes of my day.”

It got me thinking: as parents, we all have jobs we dread. But there’s some we quietly love, that others groan about.

For me, it’s Book Week.

Each year I hear complaints - buying or making a costume, convincing a child to pick a character from an actual book.

For some reason, I get excited.

There’s something magical about reading; I’ve always loved sharing books with my kids.

I’m not into crafts - especially the mess - and yet, I’ve found myself happily making or sourcing costumes to help bring the characters my children love to life. We take photos and get our dog involved; I love it.

Emma's kids dressed up for Book Week. Image: Supplied

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If only we could do a trade

I asked ten school parents about tasks they enjoy — ones others dread.

Jo likes parent teacher conferences. She enjoys “understanding how they teach my kids things and hearing about their personality and friendships - what they are like when I am not around”

Liz enjoys watching swimming lessons. She appreciates the peace when they’re safe in the pool and loves “seeing them improve.” 

Catherine enjoys helping with school speeches. She loves “helping to get their ideas together, listening to them rehearse. I loved doing them when I was at school myself.”

Laura enjoys sewing Scout badges. “I don’t sew otherwise, but I enjoy sewing badges — it’s relaxing.” 

Megan loves laying with her son while he falls asleep. “One day he won’t want his Mamma’s comfort at bedtime so I’m lapping it up.”

Elizabeth loves ironing uniforms. “And then seeing them walk out the door in freshly ironed nice neat uniforms with nice hair and clean shoes, makes me smile.”

Rochelle enjoys Easter hat making. “Working with my children to create their vision and spend time doing these activities together makes me so happy.”

Sophie loves weekend sport. “I’m the first to volunteer for scoring — there’s something satisfying about keeping official score.”

Amanda enjoys being a parent helper. “I work four days a week so love the day when I can help out and do things at school. My daughter still loves me going. I’ll enjoy it while it lasts and she lets me.”

Michelle enjoys homework time. “Doing home readers and sight words with my littlest and when my eldest asks for help with his homework it feels like a privilege.”

What struck me is how varied the answers were.

There’s plenty of tasks to dread, but there’s joy in unexpected places. If only we could do a trade.

Can somebody do my lunchboxes (Meghan??) while I wait impatiently for Book Week to come around again?

Originally published as The parenting chore I secretly love (and the one I’d happily trade with Meghan Markle)