Bored Panda previously spoke to Dr. Amy Webb of The Thoughtful Parent, who shared her insights about common parenting challenges. According to the mom of two, most couples hit a snag in their relationship because of a lack of communication. 

“Many couples don’t discuss their child-rearing ideas before having children, so many issues come up that they haven’t talked about in depth. Even if the partners share similar values, the daily life of parenting requires many decisions and compromises that can raise difficulties for couples.”

Dr. Amy says it is natural to feel some stress when raising children. She reminds all parents not to lose sight of the bigger picture. 

“Keeping the long-term goals you have for your child in mind makes it easier to compromise on these smaller issues.”

Moms are under different stress levels because they are the child's primary caregivers. Because of all that pressure, they develop what parenting experts describe as "mommy brain." 

Simply put, when your mind is too preoccupied with your maternal obligations, you forget mundane details like where you last put your keys or even forget a coworker's name for a moment. 

To better understand what goes on in a woman’s mind during mommy brain episodes, Atlanta-based mother of two Divya Vaswani shared her first-hand experience in an interview with Very Well Family.

“It feels as if something is always missing,” she explains. “Something as simple as ‘chair’ wouldn’t come to mind even after staring at a chair. It can feel like you’re in a constant state of fog.”

Just like in these tweets, a few funny moments can come out when mommy brain strikes. Here’s what happened to 32-year-old Chicago resident Carly Kuikman. 

“My poor son did end up at the pool swimming in his shorts once,” she recalled. “While not a big deal on its own, before we left the house, my husband asked if we had everything we needed for the pool.

“Diapers? Check! Towel? Check! Change of clothes? Check! It wasn't until we were in the locker room changing that I realized I forgot his swimsuit.”

Because of their role as caregivers, moms feel the brunt of the exhaustion. According to a 2023 article by the Pew Research Center, they are more inclined to say that parenting is much more complicated than they thought.

Mothers also tend to feel judged by their parents or in-laws for how they raise their children.

Regarding how they treat their kids, statistics show that dads are more likely to admit giving their children too much leeway to do whatever they want. Fathers are also more inclined to raise their kids similarly to how they were raised.

And because of this, more dads also feel judged by their spouses for how they raise their children.

However, despite these inevitable difficulties, the research showed that most couples find parenting rewarding and enjoyable. They are also aligned in their goals for their children and want them to grow up to be honest, ethical, hardworking, and ambitious individuals.