Being a mom is often a thankless job but it’s also one that feels nearly impossible to do while still maintaining balance in other aspects of life. This is especially true for moms that also work outside the home.
They’re somehow fitting in 40+ hours a week at an 8 to 5 while also keeping up with appointments, activities, special events, groceries and housekeeping. Then there’s the matter of fitting in time with your partner if you have one while also finding time for your friends and yourself.
There just simply don’t seem to be enough hours in the day for working moms to do all that is expected of them. But many working moms grew up with working moms who somehow seemed to have this work-life balance thing all figured out. One mom took to the internet to demand to know the secret that moms from the 80s and 90s are keeping around this common struggle.
The mom uploaded a video to her account, FamPhiji to express her confusion on how her own mother was able to do everything while never appearing stressed.
“Am I the only mom that’s actually confused at how her own mom was able to do this? How are you able to wake up, get yourself dressed, get me ready, take me to daycare or school, go to work, work a full shift,” Phiji asks. “Get off, pick me up, take me home, make sure I was fed, make sure I was bathed, put me to bed, wake up and do it all again?”
Other moms shared Phiji’s confusion on how their working moms were able to keep up with everything while maintaining their sanity.
“They had a different batch of 24 hours,” one woman claims.
“They had real coke in their coke, energy drinks [keep] me standing,” another mom jokes.
“Air quality was different,” someone says.
@_phiji I’m tired. #momtok #momsoftiktok #toddlermom #toddlertok #millenialmom #momlife #momstruggles #fyp
Others were more serious with their answers as they lamented about what moms in the 80s and 90s went through.
“Honey, it took me til adulthood to realize my mom was depressed,” a commenter reveals.
“I don’t think they had time for themselves. I think they just kept moving and never even stopped to think about how exhausted and miserable they were,” someone assumes.
A mom from that older generation chimed in to confirm the suspicion of others, “there was no balance. We just kept moving cause we knew what had to be done,” she reveals.
So maybe it wasn’t magic or a super secret extra set of hours. Maybe it was the more likely scenario where they absolutely were overwhelmed and exhausted but we didn’t notice because we were children.
One day our own children will be asking how we made it all work and that’s your time to tell them the truth–balance is a lie. It takes equal partnership to make a household run smoothly and something will always get put down. It’s up to you to prioritize what you need to hold, what you can delegate, and what you can set aside for another day.