A video circulating on TikTok has once again launched a conversation about how much moms take on as the default parent. In fact, some people are calling the clip the clearest example they've seen of a "single married mom."
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The video itself is pretty brief
The footage, which was uploaded by @angy_catalano, was apparently taken from a home security camera that was set up in a family's driveway. In it, a mother unloads her baby from their car seat while carrying a large diaper bag on each shoulder.
It's a pretty typical scenario, but as the mom begins to step backward, she trips over her other child who has silently wandered behind her, and all three fall to the pavement.
Immediately, the mother reacts in shock
"OMG, OMG, OMG!" she yells, fearing that her toddler has hit their head on the pavement.
At the same time, the mother is still grasping her baby in her arms, having done everything she could to protect them during the fall.
@angy_catalano La prontezza di riflessi di lui ne vogliamo parlare?! Seguimi ✅ se ti piace ridere su tik tok. #gentechecade ♬ suono originale – ✨ ✨
Luckily, all three wind up being OK, and the whole thing turns out to be one very close call.
But here's why the internet can't stop talking about the nine-second video: Because while all of this is going down, the woman's husband appears from the other side of the SUV, walking slowly as he looks at his phone.
The TikTok was first shared in January, but is still making the rounds
Since then, it's been viewed more than 33 million times and sparked an unexpected conversation in the comments section.
"Looks like a married single mom to me," wrote one user in a comment that now has more than 52,000 likes.
The term is actually nothing new; for several years now, it's been the subject of Op-Eds and personal essays and articles on parenting trends.
And, as you might have guessed by now, it refers to mothers who are married, or have a committed partner, yet still find that the majority of parenting duties fall on them.
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A lot of people came down hard on the dad in the video
"I wonder if he noticed that he is the problem," one person wrote.
"Love the fact he was there to do NOTHING," said another.
"If only there was another adult in the clip who could have helped that mom out," someone else said sarcastically.
Others simply couldn't get over the fact that the mom was doing everything while the dad seemed to completely drop the ball. One even commented that the phone never left the dad's hand, which might suggest that he wasn't all that concerned.
Several other commenters said the video proved this mother was basically "a single mom of three," since her husband wasn't truly a partner in parenting. And a lot of people said that this is the kind of stuff many women go through in the early days of parenthood — until eventually, it becomes too much to bear.
"And then he’ll be BLINDSIDED when one day she decides to leave him," one person commented.
"Our marriage was perfect I don't understand why she left me," said another.
"The divorce was so sudden," added someone else.
That said, it's a hard to make such grand assumptions based on a 9-second video
Something similar happened last year when a mime at Sea World was caught "schooling" a dad about helping his wife out more.
In that viral clip, a couple was walking to their seats when a mime working the crowd saw that the mother was holding their baby, plus a heavy diaper bag on her shoulder. Seeing that the mom appeared to be doing it all on her own, the mime dramatically stopped the couple and insisted that the dad give his wife a hand. And, because this was part of his performance, it caught the attention of a lot of people in the audience — including one who was filming.
A clip of the exchange was later shared on TikTok, where thousands of strangers quickly mocked the dad.
@fiestascondjnova I was on vacation at SeaWorld in Orlando Florida and this happened. #FYP ♬ original sound – Ernest
"[This] said soooo much without saying a single word," one person commented.
"Oh they fought in the minivan after this," said another.
"He better have learned [his lesson]," someone else added.
However, despite how it looked, that wasn't the full story
After the video went viral, the couple — who were later identified as Michelle and Nick Tzenevrakis — attempted to clarify what really happened during an interview with Today.
"Nick is the greatest father and I want to make sure that people know that,” Michelle told the outlet, adding that her husband had been pushing the stroller, carrying the diaper bag, and tending to their daughter throughout the day.
In her opinion, they were very much sharing the load.
"He does so much for us," she insisted. "He’s just awesome in every way."
At the moment they crossed paths with the mime, Nick was simply taking a break — but those few brief seconds apparently left strangers with a clouded opinion.
The same could probably be said about the dad in the driveway video, who may have just been having "a moment" in those brief nine seconds. While it doesn't negate the reality of the "married single mom," which is definitely a thing, it also doesn't prove that this mom is always going it alone. If anything, it serves as a sobering reminder that parenting is hard, accidents happen, and it's impossible to be "perfect" at every moment of the day.
