Girls and their multi-tasking socialization

Victoria Seiketso Sethibe | Thursday February 9, 2017 13:45

What stands out clearly though is that many women do multi-tasking quite well. Below is a scenario of how one woman’s multi-tasking skills developed over the years:

Osadi* is a 29-year-old highly productive director in a reputable Information Technology company, a wife to Lloyd* and a hands on mother to a five year old Lithabo* as well as a three year old Tsheisa*. Osadi* learned her multi-tasking skills when she was growing up in her home village with her younger brother Modisaotsile*.

The two siblings were brought up by their mother, father, uncles and aunts. Osadi’s* family was a typical village family which held onto some strong Setswana values whereby she would come back from school during her adolescence, help her mother to cook for the family, wash the dishes and retire to bed early. Modisaotsile* on the other hand, got to work very hard only during the weekends with his father at the cattle post, learning to care for livestock to feed the family.

Osadi’s* main challenge was that she could not use evening time to do her academic studies during the week as she would be too tired after a long day at school, combined with her cooking and dish washing home chores. Instead of developing a bitter attitude, she decided to make it her mid-week daily routine to wake up very early in the morning and catch up with her academic work, while it was nice and quiet, before finally heading for school. From that experience, Osadi* learned how crucial early morning time was for her as a typical traditional Setswana girl, something that still works very well for her in her womanhood.

From Osadi’s* mother’s view, making Osadi* multi-task between school and home was not meant to ill-treat her, but to deliberately prepare her for the upcoming multi-tasking role that comes with being a woman. The phrase “ngwana wa mosetsana ke serite saga mmaagwe” is proof that girls do need their mothers for guidance and role modelling, the same way boys need their fathers likewise.

Below is a scenario showing how Osadi* currently manages her time:

Her day starts at 430 a.m. when she wakes up to switch on the geyser, followed by a 30 minutes jog on her treadmill and a ten minutes’ shower. At around 5.20 a.m. Osadi* goes into the kitchen to prepare breakfast for the family (in most cases for the children as the husband would be typically out on work-related trip). At 6 a.m. she would open up the door to let the housekeeper in and wake her children up so the helper bathes them in preparation for their day at pre-school.

At 6.30 a.m. they all eat breakfast before she drops them at school at 7 a.m on her way to work. At the end of a busy day, Osadi* comes back home at around 5.30 p.m. to spend some quality time with the children before retiring to bed 7.30 p.m. Osadi’s* husband, Lloyd, is a building contractor so he spends most of the time working far away from home.

During the weekends, Osadi’s* family tries as much as they can to spend time together, either at home or by going out to join Lloyd* at his camp site. The couple also gets to participate actively in extended family events like ceremonies and funerals.

The family devotes Sunday mornings for church service followed by total relaxation for the rest of the day.

Osadi’s* seemingly effortless multi-tasking and attention to detail is what she learned from an early age.

Though initially it was tough, the multiple tasks she learned to manage effectively as a teenager paid off in the end because she is now using the same skills to cope with the demands of her modern life. She is representative of a typical hardworking woman.