Naomi Buck is a Toronto-based writer currently working on a book about child care.
One evening this winter, as I was steering two overladen grocery carts toward the checkout of our local superstore, the employee handling cart traffic control came to my aid. Taking hold of one of carts, he said, “It’s people like you I feel sorry for.”
I assumed he was reacting to the sight of a small woman attempting to stock up for her family (plus an elderly neighbour) for several weeks, thus limiting our exposure to COVID-19. And while I certainly wasn’t looking for pity, I did appreciate the acknowledgment that what I – like millions of other mothers – was doing was hard work, as I piled the gargantuan haul into the car and headed home to a quarantining child, half-made dinner and desk piled high with unfinished work.