Mental Load in two parts - School and Rubbish

School Emails 
Andy is the school boss.  I am the paid childcare boss. Our school has an email system which sends SO MANY EMAILS. They come to all of us via a shared email address. I could feel my brain cluttering up with emails - did Andy sign that permission slip for a school trip? Are we collecting toilet rolls for art projects?    I was trying to think of a good way to manage all these emails - maybe we could review all the emails at our Logistics meetings?  Maybe we could keep an email record of things the school needed?

I wanted to ask him and check, but I also knew that school was his job and he doesn't check on my jobs.

And then I realized the problem wasn't the emails, or Andy's job. The problem was that this was in my head at all.  So I created a filter in my email and sent all emails from the school directly into the archive.  Now I don't see them.  My brain feels lighter! If we miss something... well it wasn't me that missed it.  And he did sign the permission slip... without me asking.

Rubbish
Andy is in charge of rubbish.  He takes it out of the house and he puts it on the curb on the right day.  He checks if we have enough bin bags and recycling bags.  He is in charge of it all.

Recently our local council decided to change our recycling scheme.  Not, instead of. collecting a trash every 2 weeks,  nappies every week, and combined recycling every week, they have presented us with many different bags to collect many different things on many different weeks.

This probably makes sense, but it does mean a fundamental change to our sorting system.  It was only a few months ago when I got my shiny kitchen bin with trash on one side on recycling on the other! And, as silly as it is, I really like my shiny bin.

Now we have four different sortings to do, and this is a two compartment bin.  Andy suggested we get a different bin system for the kitchen.  At first, I was annoyed because I just figured our our current system, and now I had to figure out a new system.  I did some quick googling, I thought aobut our space... and then I remembered....

Andy is the rubbish person.  He can find a new bin. He can order it! This is totally not my job.  His comment of "We need to get a different bin" was not "hey Rachel, order a different bin" it was the observation a new bin may be required.  

So I have left it.  And my bin is still there.  And someday Andy will find his new system, which he will check with me, and I can think about it then.  But for now this system works for me.

Mental load is real and very legit - but I do try to be mindful of what is really my load and what I am making my load for no good reason.