Internet empathizes with working mom who also finishes household chores all by herself

Although the participation of women in the workforce has gone up, society has a long way to go before doing away with gender roles assigned to them under a patriarchal setup. A large number of women have to come back home after working hard to finish chores such as cleaning the house, preparing dinner, and looking after the kids. One of them is Lynalice Bandy, who goes by @5kids5catssomedogstoo on TikTok where she shared her exhausting routine of doing household chores after office hours in a video that resonated with several other women.

The text alongside the clip said, "I've worked six, ten-hour days in a row, only one day off being a sick day." She goes on to add, "I'd like to pretend I'm not the only person who cleans here, but as you can see. These rooms don't get much attention when I'm not here, especially the kitchen counters." Bandy can be seen fixing the bedroom and tidying up the visibly messy room as she continues to explain how the situation at her home reached that point. "While summer session was happening, my soon-to-be-ex-husband claimed he couldn't watch the kids while he was focusing on homework," Bandy further wrote.

"Now, that school is out for a break, he doesn't have that excuse anymore," adds Bandy. "Despite that, every single day after I've gotten home from work, I've been met with one disaster or another caused by inattentive parenting." Bandy's kids also appear in the video, helping their mom clean out the bedroom space. Then Bandy moves towards cleaning up another room and the table before sweeping the floor. Bandy has also come home to several disasters at times caused by the kids, including one time when there was shampoo on the carpet of her daughter's room and nail polish over her hair. The kids had even used scissors to cut their hair, the down comforter, the mattress cover, and two nugget covers.

"My ex lost his temper and smashed my dogs' food bin," Bandy recalled. "All of his attention has been focused on the four vehicles in our driveway that he wants to work on continuously. His obsession has hit an all-time high and he's even brought car parts into the dining room and left oil everywhere. This was because he claimed he had to be able to watch the kids and just not doing the task wasn't an option."

Bandy continues to clean the kitchen counter and wash a pile of dishes and then moves on to sort more trash into the bin. "I wish so much that the housing economy wasn't what it was and I could afford to move out. My soul aches without a place to feel safe and happy. Hang in there, lovelies," she concluded. Several users empathized with Bandy and left encouraging comments for her.

@amnakhalid wrote, "Being a single parent while married is the worst. I’m glad you’re changing that for yourself and the kids." @morganaflint applauded, "In the chaos, you've created calm and safe places (while parenting). He isn't enough for you or the kids. You deserve a better partner." @cjblakeslee added, "Your drive and work ethic to get this all done alone is incredible. It’s so hard when the burden of maintaining the household is left to women alone." @k.hole333 quipped, "Good job mumma! I know the overwhelming feeling when things just get on top of you so well done!"

Follow @5kids5catssomedogstoo on TikTok for more videos on parenting and family.