If you have kids, roommates, or partners, you’ll know that the division of labour in caring for a house is a hot topic pretty much across the board but if you’re a recovering dogmatic radical unschooling, you may struggle with this more than the average person. Radical unschooling prescribes that, by providing care for others, you can find fulfillment. By filling others’ cups, you can fill your own. This can be true for some, but the flip side of this approach is that you’re often left to do all the work, no one is responsible for helping you, and you’re left to find your own joy even if you’re feeling overworked and under appreciated. Red flags all around.
I can really relate to this! This is where me and radical unschoolers have never seen eye to eye. It might be partially cultural, but my culture is (or was, when I was growing up) never one of individualism and so that never made sense to me. I've always spoken about unschooling as a community of practice, rather than a practice of individual freedom. It just never sat right with me! That said, my kids aren't amazing at doing chores and I don't make them - but I do ask for help and I'm very clear about explaining we live in a community and everyone pitches in. And they do, but not in a structured, regular way. Which is fine by me. We're also lucky to have someone who we pay to clean occasionally, so there's that. Personally I still like framing things as creative v. passive, not as a judgment but just as a way for us to notice how we spend our time.
I can really relate to this! This is where me and radical unschoolers have never seen eye to eye. It might be partially cultural, but my culture is (or was, when I was growing up) never one of individualism and so that never made sense to me. I've always spoken about unschooling as a community of practice, rather than a practice of individual freedom. It just never sat right with me! That said, my kids aren't amazing at doing chores and I don't make them - but I do ask for help and I'm very clear about explaining we live in a community and everyone pitches in. And they do, but not in a structured, regular way. Which is fine by me. We're also lucky to have someone who we pay to clean occasionally, so there's that. Personally I still like framing things as creative v. passive, not as a judgment but just as a way for us to notice how we spend our time.