It goes without saying that many moms find themselves to be the default parent, and many of those moms also find themselves utterly exhausted in the role of doing and being everything for their families. So it comes as no surprise that a video that was meant to be pure humor actually ended up ruffling a lot of mother's feathers instead.
When Maria Roberts posted a video to her Instagram of her sitting next to her kids on a flight while her husband enjoyed a seat away from them, she had to double back to explain the reason why he didn't help out during the plane ride.
"As Lou likes to say, 'I would switch with you, but they refuse to sit next to me'" she captioned the post, referencing to her husband. In the video, Maria is seen on the plane sitting next to her two kids, performing tasks to guarantee her kids are taken care of during the flight. Her husband, Lou Roberts, on the other hand, is sitting in a different row with headphones in and watching a movie as he enjoys the peacefulness of his seat away from his wife and kids.
Immediately, the comments flooded with concerned and riled up moms.
"Oh no way!!" one mom stated. "Let’s promote a new standard and SHAME weaponized incompetence of our spouses. You deserve better!! We each take one kid and they go in the window seat, younger one in the row behind so their feet only kick their brother Husband manages one kid’s entertainment and snacks, and I do the same. ."
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"I cannot believe that in 2023 women still accept this behavior," someone else commented. "You have two kids," another person stated. "Divide and conquer."
Maria ended up jumping into the comments section to explain why her husband sat in a different row. "I think when they are older! Right now they want mom and it makes the flight easier so I don’t mind ☺️," she shared.
In an interview with Good Morning America, the content creator said that she and her husband were simply acting out the scenario for humor, wanting to show other moms that they weren't alone in a relatable experience.
"It's meant to have moms feel like, 'Oh, my gosh, I'm not the only one going through this type of situation' in a humorous way, so we can laugh about it and de-stress a little bit," she said.
"We're just trying to get from point A to point B on the plane as smoothly and as stress-free as possible," she continued. "Both of my kids prefer to sit with me. So that's just how we do it. They sit with me, my husband takes the seat directly across from us on the aisle so he can be right there, too. But Mom ends up being the one that's coordinating all of the things with the kids. Dad's kind of hanging out but he's there if needed. We may change how we do our flight setup in the future but I also like to sit next to both of my kids."
She went on to explain that what the viewers of the video didn't see was all the work her husband put in before the flight. "He is the one that has booked our flights, booked the car. He does all of the managing of getting to the airport, managing us through the airport," she shared. "I feel like you do what makes things as easy as possible when you travel and I don't think every single task has to be split 50-50. You just kind of do what works for your family."
Still, people in the comments continued to disagree with Maria's attempt for humor.
"I hate that this is still a standard we are promoting," someone commented. "Even young children can learn that Dad is a good option and don’t need to always be with mom. Please for the love of god stop reinforcing that dads are incapable."
