As parents, especially when you’re a mom, Christmas is a lot of work—almost like having a second job, and one that all too often goes unappreciated.
For one mom named Mary, though, her efforts went not just unappreciated but entirely unnoticed.
After her family’s Christmas in 2021 was canceled due to what she described as “a lot of loss and a lot of sadness,” she spent “all month stressing” over creating the perfect Christmas for 2022.
But as she detailed in a TikTok, that same effort was not reciprocated.
Mary decided to share her disappointment after she was left empty-handed on Christmas morning. In a six-second clip, Mary shared her heartbreak about how much the holidays can suck when you’re an under-appreciated mom. Not surprisingly, TikTok took off and went viral, finding so many others who feel the same.
“I know I’m not the only mom who woke up Christmas morning with not a single present under the tree for them as you watched your kids and husband unwrap the presents you spent all month stressing over,” she wrote on top of the video clip.
After receiving tons of supportive comments from other moms who have found themselves with zero presents on Christmas, the mother of two expressed how thankful she was for the support from fellow moms out there.
“I knew I wouldn’t be the only one who could relate to that situation but I was definitely surprised to see how normal it is for so many of us,” she said.
She also shared some deeply personal details on why this particular empty-handed Christmas hit harder due to a hard past couple of years, during which she lost her mom and was hospitalized for COVID-19 which had her on a ventilator. Due to her condition, she also had a miscarriage.
“I was most disappointed because I was on life support last year for nearly 2 months, therefore I missed all of the holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years). I told my husband for months before Christmas that this year we are going to make up for all the holidays I missed,” she explained.
Despite being on LITERAL LIFE SUPPORT and having a miscarriage, her husband could not muster up the strength to go out to a store or shop online to buy his wife one gift for Christmas. On top of that, Mary still did all she could to make the holidays magical.
“I did all of the Christmas shopping, decorating, and making the magic happen for our kids, all he had to do was get me something to make me feel special,” she said.
“I think moms are and have always been undervalued on a daily basis. So even on Christmas when it’s supposed to be one of the magical times of the year, moms are so easily overlooked and unappreciated,” Mary continued.
Many other forgotten moms flooded the comments in solidarity. “Yup. Same. And I’m sitting here stewing in it while preparing a huge meal by myself while everyone else is watching football,” one TikToker wrote.
“We deserve better,” Mary responded.
One person wrote, “This happened to me. It wasn’t that I didn’t get a gift, it’s that no one even noticed that I didn’t have a gift.”
Another person wrote, “Thank you for this post. I feel less alone in the world.”
Some people offered advice to Mary, saying that instead of waiting for her husband and kids to step up, she should just go shopping for herself.
One mom explained that Mary’s disappointment wasn’t about gifts at all. “For all of those saying to just go buy for yourself, it’s not about the actual gift, it’s feeling left out and not important enough to be thought of…” she wrote.
According to AWM:
In a follow-up video, mom thanked her TikTok followers and fans for all of their “positive and uplifting comments,” especially since her husband hurt her so much on Christmas morning. She added that she had been married to her husband for seven years, and he had never been one to give her gifts, which “bugs” her very much. Nevertheless, she has stuck out her marriage even though it pains her to be forgotten on big occasions like Christmas and her birthday.
She said, “Getting something from your husband just makes you feel special and loved and appreciated.”
She also explained toward the end of the second video that her family has “gone through a lot in the past two years,” like a lot of “loss” and “sadness.” Some of the sadness was losing her mom at the age of forty-five in 2021.
She added, “Moms make the magic happen most of the time.”
Watch the video below for more details:
https://www.tiktok.com/@missmear/video/7181128835839184174