Pretty much every mom with a male partner jokes about how having a boyfriend or husband can sometimes feel like having an extra kid. Partners may not require as much rearing as little ones, but they contribute their fair share of household stress. After years of jokes, memes, and hilarious husband callouts, science has finally confirmed what women have been saying all along: moms stress out over their husbands twice as much as they stress over their kids.
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In a survey conducted by Today, 7,000 moms from across the US were asked about the reasons for their stress.
In what comes as a surprise to absolutely no mother ever, Today found that the vast majority of moms rate their overall stress level at a whopping 8.5 out of 10. On top of that, 46% of moms surveyed felt like their husbands caused them way more stress than their kids.
For all the moms out there who've been saying the same thing for years, these numbers are unsurprising and comforting at the same time.
Today explained some of the reasons moms find their husbands to be so damn stressful.
The overwhelming majority – 75%, to be exact – of moms said they always feel the need to do all of the household and parenting chores, because they don't think the work will get done otherwise. One in five moms also said they feel stressed all the time because their husbands simply don't help them with any household chores.
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And a few moms outright told Today their husbands make their jobs harder.
âA 7-year-old is going to be a 7-year-old. But a 35-year-old acting like a 7-year-old is more stressful because they should know better,â mom Deno Fleno said.
âI am exhausted emotionally and physically when my husband comes home. He feels like another job,â another anonymous mom explained.
These revelations are nothing new to moms, but they should be an eye opener for men everywhere.
Look, no one's saying that every male partner is a giant man-baby who does nothing but make women's lives harder. But a lot of them have got to do better at being an equal partner in their household – without constantly being asked, without constant nagging, and without complaining about it.
Moms already have way too much on their plates to be constantly stressing out over grown men who totally know better. For any dad reading this, please, don't be that guy.
