I was scrolling on my phone at 4 a.m. when a video stopped me cold. A mama at a baseball game made her way to her seat with a baby strapped to her chest, a diaper bag on her back and multiple trays of food balanced in her hands. And there was the man she came with.
Amid the crowds at San Francisco's Oracle Park, during Tuesday's Giants game against the Twins, she maneuvered the baby, balanced the food, and squeezed into the row. When she reached him, he pulled down her seat, then grabbed his food. That woman already has a whole human being strapped to her body.
You want her to navigate a crowded stadium and bring back food while you hold down the seats? I know a viral video is only a sliver of two strangers' lives. I don't know them or how their relationship works.
But it was like motherhood had been blasted onto the Jumbotron: Mama balancing everything, making it look effortless because she's had plenty of practice. And we mamas saw ourselves. Not necessarily with that man.
We'd had it with the expectation that Mom will carry it because Mom always figures out how. Give her another plate, and she'll find somewhere to balance it. Because she can handle everything, somehow that means she should.
For a few seconds, motherhood's invisible load wasn't invisible anymore. Mamas everywhere were ready to make the call: You're out! Remember Goldilocks And The Three Bears?
Extract — continue reading at the source.
