Anyone who has ever been a stay-at-home parent knows that the job is far from leisurely. The trope that portrays moms watching soaps all day while eating BonBons and lounging on a couch is tired, to put it simply. Yet, still, it persists.
One stay-at-home mom wanted to teach her husband this lesson after he made a passing comment about the difficulty of her role.
The stay-at-home mom spent 24 hours alone in a hotel after her husband said her job was easy.
In a since-deleted TikTok, the mom, Holly McBrideexplained that her husband made a brazen comment that being a stay-at-home mom is a walk in the park.
So, to show her husband just how easy childcare is, she took off right before her son was due to wake up for “his very early morning bottle” — to spend the day relaxing at a hotel.
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“I’m about to go get a bagel, eat that bagel, watch TV, and sleep,” she said. “I don’t have to check out ‘til 11 a.m. I hope you have a good day, babe.”
While the mom didn’t offer an update on how he husband fared on his own, this dynamic is not unheard of.
Many working partners assume that caretaking is far easier than working a traditional nine-to-five. However, being a stay-at-home mom is just as exhausting, if not more so, than working a regular job in an office.
Stay-at-home parents are responsible for taking care of their kids and tackling household responsibilities. Yet, they don’t get paid, are given no breaks or days off, and are expected to work around the clock, every day of the week.
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In fact, according to Motherly’s State of Motherhood Surveyonly 53% of moms under 30, and 39% of all moms, get at least an hour to themselves each day.
All the while, they often get little to no credit for their hard work.
Stay-at-home moms report feeling lower levels of well-being compared to working moms.
Motherly’s State of Motherhood Survey further found that 78% of moms feel that society doesn’t value or support their work. For stay-at-home moms, this lack of recognition feels even more isolating, especially when their contributions aren’t seen as “real work.”
Motherly’s study also noted that stay-at-home moms report lower levels of well-being compared to working moms, in part because they don’t get the professional validation that comes with paid work. This, mixed with the societal expectations that moms must enjoy and love every minute of parenting, means it’s only a matter of time before they experience parental burnout.
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Just like in any other job, it is untenable to work constantly through thick and thin without support. As much as we stress the importance of work-life balance, we should extend that same grace to stay-at-home moms as well.
If anything, McBride’s video, while meant to be comedic, emphasizes the need to be transparent with your significant other about childcare responsibilities.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, your partner should be more than willing to step in and take over when the need arises. After all, being a stay-at-home parent doesn’t absolve the other parent from… well, parenting.
Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.
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