Kids, chores, and why dad doesn't see the laundry

为什么老公不干活?

Round Table China

2026-08-18

20 分钟
PDF

单集简介 ...

You ask your kid to help clean up and they look around like there's nothing to do. It's not attitude, but a glimpse into something researchers call cognitive labor, the invisible load of noticing what needs to be done before anyone asks. That same divide shows up between partners, often without anyone realizing it, yet there are practical ways to bring everyone onto the same page. On the show: Steve, Fei Fei & Yushun
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单集文稿 ...

  • Discussion keeps the world turning.

  • This is Round Table.

  • You're listening to Round Table.

  • I'm Steve Hatherly today with Yushan and Feifei.

  • Coming up, ever ask your kids to help clean up a mess

  • and they genuinely look confused, like they don't even see the mess at all?

  • Well, turns out there's a name for that: cognitive labor.

  • And it doesn't stop with kids.

  • Coming up, we'll get into it and by the end of our chat,

  • you might start seeing your own house and the people who live in it completely differently.

  • You've done this, I'm sure, if you're a parent,

  • because every parent has done this at some point.

  • You look at your kid standing in a room that is a total mess—

  • clothes on the floor, dishes on the tables,

  • backpacks exploded seemingly in the hallway.

  • And you say, "Hey, can you help me clean this up?"

  • They genuinely look around the room and they say, "Help with what?"

  • Well, your first instinct as a parent perhaps is to think that they're lying,

  • or at least stalling, or maybe even being sarcastic on purpose.

  • But there's real research out there suggesting that they're not lying at all.