Op-Ed: Inside the Santa-industrial complex

The real heroes of the holidays are the toiling parents behind the machinery of the Santa-industrial complex.

Toilets don’t clean themselves at Christmastime. Laundry doesn’t fold itself. The tasks for Mom double when children are home from school and Dad can’t leave the office. Or when guests spreading cheer suddenly arrive.

But the domestic rituals also create a sort of ironic refuge, a quiet and solitary time in which to put the world back in order. Scrubbing. Sorting. Grocery shopping. On the best days, the work can induce an almost-meditative state. So why not dress up these lowly activities? They, too, are what Christmas is made of.

Elizabeth Dalziel is a photojournalist based in London and the mother of young boys. She is at work on a documentary project, the “Secret Life of Mothers.” www.elizabethdalziel.com