Mom Lists Things She Thought She’d Enjoy as a Parent but… Nope!

This TikTok mom is going viral for revealing all the things she thought she’d love doing as a mom—but turns out she does not

Before you become a parent, it’s easy to think about the experience with some nice, rose-colored glasses on. You imagine all the Hallmark movie-worthy family activities you’ll do with your littles in tow, how having kids won’t change your family one bit because you’ll still be active and adventurous while you instill those values in your kids. And then you give birth and realize how wrong you were.

Such is the case for one TikTok mom, who’s going viral for her video about all the things she thought she’d enjoy doing with her kids but has now realized she does not.

Hayley DeRoche begins her video with a disclaimer, lest the trolls come for her: “these are jokes…for legal reasons.” Then, she launches into her list of family activities that turned out to be way less fun once actual kids were involved. First up? Family dinner.

“I thought it would be a lovely bonding experience at the end of the day. Joke’s on me because it is not,” she says. “Imagine inviting multiple wild mongoose to your dinner table. They’re ravenous, but they are also immediately full because they do not like what has been placed on the table. Also, they have no bones—just flopping right out of those seats. I don’t know why you even have seats, honestly. Do you get to enjoy your meal at least? No. No, you don’t.”

Yep, that’s something all parents can relate to.

Next on DeRoche’s list is family vacations, which all moms know are vacations for everyone but the default parent.

“Did you know that once you have children, vacations are just ‘trips’? DeRoche jokes. “You will be vacating your sanity. Otherwise, all of the normal frustrations of parenting will be coming with you. In fact, that’s probably the only thing that does get packed.”

Next up is relaxing, which moms can do between the hours of 10 and 11 p.m.—provided they can stay awake that late (spoiler: they cannot). There’s also hiking.

“I have had some success with the Hansel and Gretel method where you take some of your trail mix and you just drop it along behind you, and the child will eventually catch up because they want to catch up to the M&Ms,” DeRoche jokes. “But yeah, otherwise, do not recommend.”

Some other things DeRoche was surprised to learn she didn’t enjoy with her kids? Reading out loud and baking, which she likens to “a flour factory exploding in your house,” which, yes, is accurate.

There’s no doubt that DeRoche’s list resonated with other moms because they flooded the comments with support—and their own entries.

“I spent my entire pregnancy and the 1st year of my son’s life looking forward to spending time in the kitchen together. I hate it so so much,” one wrote.

Another added, “I thought I would love chaperoning field trips. NOPE,” though you would think she would have seen that coming.

In a follow-up video, DeRoche added even more to the list, like kids’ birthday parties, recitals, and her kids’ school’s program for sharing their classroom art projects.