Call outs
Gemma Kerr
“I’m collecting stories, anecdotes and memories of women’s experiences of ‘leaks’ for a new project called Unstoppered, which has been commissioned by Mothers Who Make (an Arts Council England funded project). These stories might be about getting your period at a difficult moment, having night sweats during the menopause, lying in puddles of breastmilk and wee post-birth. These stories and confessions will be used to create a podcast to celebrate female ‘leaks’ and help break the taboos about the things that women’s bodies do. I’d like to invite YOU to send me your stories through my website. All stories will remain anonymous. Contributions will be used to create a podcast and create an online archive on Mothers Who Make’s forthcoming website - it will be an unstoppered confessional.”
Read Gemma's blog post about her experiences that have led her to make this work and send your stories via her website
Rachael Spence
“Have you ever thought F**K. THIS. LIST? I’m a mother of three and I recently embarked on an experiment in domestic equality. I realised I had unwittingly become responsible for most of the work that related to the smooth running of my home and family. So I began to make a list of all the jobs - Every task. All the labour. Every mental note, plan and delegation. Every wash, tidy and repair. Every worry, cuddle and encourage that goes into the maintenance of family life. This became a very long list.
Do you have a list? A to do list? A shared list? A mental note? A task App? If so I’d love to hear about it. Lets research and develop some practical ways of being equally responsible for all these f**king lists. A list shared is a list halved after all...”
You can send your list/s to: fookthislist@gmail.com
All lists will remain anonymous.
Here’s an extract from Rachael’s list:
Hold childs hand while they walk along a wall slowly.
Allow extra time to get places so child can get distracted along the way and it’s not stressful.
Think about healthy meals for children.
Cook and prep snacks and meals from those ideas
Apply sun cream to children in morning x 3
Refill ice-cube tray
Pick up nappy off floor and put in bin
Put garden cushion away when in rains
Put down garden umbrella when windy
Do ponytails, plaits and buns in children's hair
Sort, buy and replace hair accessories
Lie in bed talking and cuddling every eve with children x 3
Replace boxes of tissues around the house
Put away toys, scooters and bikes from garden
Maintain sand pit and clean and replace sand when needed
Take nappy off in morning
Teach child to stand up and use toilet /transition from potty to toilet
Clean out washing machine drawer
Worry about what is wrong with children if they are unwell
Find ways to display children’s art work
Think about school holidays and work-childcare needed, plan and organise it including who works when and time spent with children
Plunge toilet
Wipe shit off toilet wall
Play with children
Talk to children
Stay up all night with sick children
Clean soap dishes in bathroom
Find childs lost comfort toy in middle of night
Express breast milk
Freeze breast milk
Soak and treat stained clothing
Sew and alter children's clothing
Passports-check occasionally and note expiry dates, renew if needed
Painting and decorating
Sort Children’s bookcases
Take day off to look after sick children
Take children’s temperature
Rinse the bath out after use
Put away bath toys
Think about a way of storing bath toys and buy it
Pack and unpack for trips away
Notice when parking permits run out and buy new ones
Prepare milk and fruit in the morning for children
Prepare milk in the evening for children (including medication)
Keep track of any repeat prescriptions for children
Keep track of immunisations for children
