If you are a mom and you are reading this, you might be in line at Target. Or sitting in a doctor’s office. You may be picking up NyQuil, or double checking that it isn't an ear infection.
That's because it's after Thanksgiving and before Christmas, a time rivaled only by the last month of school for the busiest time of the year for most moms. So if you are going to read something, it's probably while you are doing something else – and we'll try to keep it short so you can finish.
We say moms and not parents because, let's be honest, who is picking the sweater for your mother-in-law in the gift exchange? Who is the one creating the Christmas magic – moving the Elf, baking the sugar cookies, scheduling a family photo, and making sure that there is an equal amount of candy in each child’s stocking – even if one of them is now 19? It's the "mental load" of parenting, the invisible, unpaid work of planning, managing and organizing all the things that women take on to keep a family and household running.
And it's pushing women to the breaking point, according to a new USA TODAY/Peacock survey of 1,600 U.S. parents about the mental load parents face. In fact, 43 percent of women say they are burned out or emotionally exhausted. And more than a third feel that way every single day.
