Mom defends her husband who sat alone on plane while she was busy momming
Maria Roberts/Instagram
He was living his best life while she was in the trenches.
It’s a classic scene — you are headed on a family trip, and you’re drowning in iPad cords, Goldfish crackers, backpacks that are half-dumped out into corners of the airplane floor you never want to touch, and more glory moments from momming during travel. But, a couple went viral recently thanks to Maria Robert’s Instagram post, showing her husband, with headphones, watching a movie in the other set of seats across the plane aisle. The video hit a nerve with couples everywhere trying to divide parenting tasks equitably.
“Me on flights with family,” her caption reads, as she balances a coffee and a whole bunch of kid stuff, helping them get situated, fed and entertained.
“Husband,” she writes, panning over to him peacefully enjoying a show. She notes, “As Lou likes to say, ‘I would switch with you but they refuse to sit next to me.’” In an interview with TODAY, Roberts confirms that her kids have a favorite parent, essentially, and that even if she would sit them next to their dad, they’d be climbing over to her. She adds that his headphones are turned down low and he’s ready to help, so she really doesn’t see what all the fuss is about.
One commenter wrote, “I hate that this is still a standard we are promoting. Even young children can learn that Dad is a good option and don’t need to always be with mom. Please for the love of God stop reinforcing that dads are incapable,” one person wrote.”
But, Roberts says, “I like making moms laugh and letting them know, ‘You’re not alone in this…as far as the negativity goes, I’m not offended and neither is Lou. Just because he sits in the fourth seat on an airplane doesn’t mean he’s not an amazing dad.”
The conversation comes in the midst of a country trying to navigate improving equity in parenting, working, and homemaking roles, through concepts such as Fair Play.
She’s also intent on showing the real picture of marriage and parenting, such as sitting on opposite sides of the couch as the relationship goes on. As Roberts points out, what works for some couples doesn’t work for others, and one snapshot in time doesn’t reflect a parent as a whole.
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