Sometimes it feels like kids call for their moms dozens of times a day, but who’s counting? One overwhelmed mom actually is. In a viral video, a mom named Jasmine decided to use a handheld device to track how many times her young kids called for her in a single day from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Hint: It’s a lot. Many moms struggle with being the “default parent.”
Like many other moms, Jasmine often finds herself being the first point of contact for her children — even when her husband is available. Feeling like the default parent can be exhausting, which motivated Jasmine to track exactly how many times her kids asked for her help with something.
In an email sent to Today.com, she explained that her kids “just kept calling for me and calling for me even though my husband was home and was able to help them.” Her kiddos would even approach their dad and say things like, “Dad, where’s Mom? I need her to get my water bottle.”
In a viral video, Jasmine actually counted how many times her kids asked for her.
Using the handheld tally counter, Jasmine started tracking how many times her kids said “mom” at 7 a.m. “Good morning,” she said in her video. “Let’s see how many times I hear the word ‘mom’ in one day.”
At 8:50 a.m., she shared an update: her children had already said “mom” 88 times. By lunch time, the number reached 127. At that point, her kids were napping, meaning Jasmine could enjoy a short break.
At 3:41 p.m., she shared another update.
By then, her kids had said “mom” 181 times. “So we wonder why moms are sick of hearing their name,” Jasmine said before revealing the final count at 8 p.m. From 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., her two children had said “mom” 234 times. “Also, just did some quick math: If that’s the daily average number in one year, I’m hearing it 85,410 times,” she added. “Goodnight.”
Others weighed in.
@flownoak Ever wonder why Mums are sick of hearing their name? Is this a lot or do you think your kids say it more? #muuuuuuuummmm #mom #mummy #mumma #mum #mum ♬ original sound – Flown Oak
In the comments, some critics suggested that Jasmine was ungrateful. “What a blessing to have this problem,” one critic commented on the video. However, many others jumped to Jasmine’s defense and pointed out that both things can be true: It can be a blessing, and it can also be exhausting at the same time.
After all, moms should be able to speak openly and honestly about motherhood. “To all the people who feel like she sounds ungrateful… it should be normalized to express frustration without fear of being criticized and labeled as ungrateful,” one person wrote in Jasmine’s defense. “Good things are allowed to be hard, and we should be allowed to talk about it.”
Responding directly to the comment, Jasmine wrote in part, “You can be grateful AND need a break at the same time.”
Additionally, someone else perfectly summed up why hearing “mom” so many times in one day can feel so overwhelming. “It’s the equivalent of receiving 234 emails that need immediate attention and the majority of those emails result in tantrums,” they wrote. “Exhausting!”
