After listening to her partner complain over the weekend that she does "nothing all day," [1] Gemma Chalmers, mom to 2-year-old Kayle, decided to prove him wrong with irrefutable evidence: an eight-minute-long time-lapse video of her typical 12-hour day. And as expected, she wasn't exactly loafing around eating bonbons and watching Oprah reruns all day long. The 35-year-old mom from Scotland, who also works as a nail technician, posted the video to Facebook [2] with a message all moms can get behind:
All weekend my lovely partner has been moaning that I do nothing all day [3], so I thought I'd show him a full day . . . I actually find having a day of work more like a day off. So Mr. Jones, no more saying "enjoy your day off" or [asking] "what have you done all day?" because the answer is . . . I've been a mummy all day . . . Also a cleaner, a driver, a cook, a storyteller, a nurse, a playmate, a toddler wrestling coach, a teacher, an art director, a potty trainer, a champion tickler, a wardrobe stylist, a personal dresser, a laundry operator, a personal shopper, and [much] more.
If you're as sick of the "stay-at-home moms and women with part-time jobs don't do as much as full-time working parents [5]" sentiment as we are, your eyes are probably rolling in the back of your head by now. And to be honest, we wish we'd thought of Gemma's idea years ago.
In the video, the busy mama is seen running around from room to room doing housework, all while keeping a watchful eye on Kayle. Between making the beds, cleaning, doing laundry, making snacks and meals, and taking her son to a doctor's appointment, Gemma barely has a minute to feed herself, let alone relax, even while her son is down for a nap. Oh, and by the way, all of this took place before a client came over to get her nails done that evening.
Gemma told The Mirror exactly why she put in the effort to make the video on top of everything else she was already doing: "My partner has started his own business and works a lot and doesn't really think I do much. I just thought: 'I'm going to prove him wrong.'" [7] And boy, did she.
So the next time your partner makes a similar statement about how easy you've got it, whip out the time-lapse feature on your phone and get recording.