In our home we count socializing (In person and virtual) and making friends as part of the domestic labor load. Yes, making friends is fun but the community that I'm building doesn't just benefit me. It benefits my entire family. We are not from this area and we don't have family living near us so any sort of support we have, has been built from the ground up. And having solid support saves us time, money, and enriches our lives. Having a supportive community is an investment. No, we don't want to see our friendships as transactional, but when I am taking time out of my day to make a meal for a sick family, dig through our books to find a resource for a friend whose kid is potty training, buy presents for a birthday party, Go over and help set up that birthday party, and coordinate, schedule, and follow through with play dates and social events- What I'm doing is strengthening the bonds between myself and the people in my community and my actions will often result in reciprocal actions from those people. So when we got sick, we had meals show up at our door. We needed a babysitter, I knew someone who knew someone who had a good recommendation. When we had to take one son to the ER in the middle of the night and needed someone to come stay with the other son, my community was there. My husband and I see the value in socializing and building friendships, so we take that into account when we are considering what my domestic workload looks like from week to week as a stay-at-home mom (although now I am technically a work from home mom so that has impacted how we split the workload). And if I need to spend some hours at a playdate instead of getting the dishes done, that means that task rolls over to us splitting it 50/50 when he is also off of work. Not all socializing is community building, but a lot of it is and I believe that it should be respected and valued alongside other domestic duties. If you're interested in learning more about splitting the domestic workload, I highly recommend Eve Rodsky 's book @Fair Play + Unicorn Space #kelsewhatelse #domesticlabor #mentalload #fairplay #momtips #midwesternmom