Emotional labour refers to the mental and emotional effort required to manage feelings, tone, and behaviour in order to navigate difficult situations or maintain relationships. It often involves staying calm, polite, and measured even when a person is experiencing stress, frustration, fear, or grief. In education advocacy, families—especially parents of disabled children—often carry significant emotional labour. Parents may need to carefully manage how they communicate concerns so they are not perceived as “difficult,” while at the same time advocating for their child’s safety, rights, and access to learning. This can involve preparing for meetings, choosing words carefully in emails, absorbing criticism or dismissal, and remaining composed in situations that are deeply personal. Emotional labour can also include supporting a child who is struggling while simultaneously navigating institutional processes that may be slow, confusing, or adversarial. Because much of this work is invisible, it is often underestimated. Recognising emotional labour helps explain why advocacy can be exhausting even when the visible tasks—meetings, forms, and documentation—are only part of the effort involved.