I don’t disagree with this very thoughtful essay. But some of you are saying mothers aren’t more tired/stressed and that’s very unlikely to be true. I speak from the perspective of a mother whose children are grown, who has watched a daughter with young children live through the last few years. I am in awe of everything she carries. I honestly don’t know how she and other moms have handled everything, especially during the year schools were remote. Working full time, a kid doing first grade online last year, another child still in diapers during the pandemic, pumping her milk for her friend who was in a problem pregnancy and likely to have problems nursing her twins — when I visit, she’s busy every second from before dawn to late at night. I leave exhausted. It’s MUCH harder than what I did 30-plus years ago. It’s way harder than my life ever has been, particularly now that I’ve got no kids in the house. You have no idea.