Why Should Moms Have All the Responsibility—And None of the Fun?

You know what’s crazy? Moms are expected to make life fun for everyone else—but somehow, we’re the ones who are too busy doing all the things to enjoy the fun we plan! We set up family traditions, plan vacations, make sure the holiday magic happens, and create the core childhood memories for everyone to reminisce about someday. But where’s our fun? Where’s our core memory of not being exhausted?

How about we go ahead and fix that – let’s flip the script.

The Unspoken Job Description of Motherhood

At some point, society decided that moms are the official directors of fun for the entire family. We are expected to:

✅ Make birthdays magical (preferably with a homemade cake that we made or procured from a professional bakery).
✅ Ensure holidays are extra special (Elf on the Shelf? More like Mom on Edge).
✅ Plan family trips that are relaxing, entertaining, and educational (yeah…that’s a tricky balance).
✅ Organize the family calendar, weekend entertainment, and last-minute school projects, all while maintaining a Pinterest-worthy home.

When you find kids interests you can create the intersection of entertaining and educational

Moms Deserve Fun, Too

Here’s the thing: If we’re the ones planning all the fun, why are we not making sure we get to enjoy it, too? We deserve to have just as much fun as the rest of the family (I’d argue more for some activities)—without having to orchestrate every detail like an overworked cruise director.

Instead of only focusing on what will make the kids happy, let’s make sure we’re having fun as well. This means:

🔥 Planning vacations that we actually want to go on (Sorry, but if it involves an itinerary with only kid food and super long road trips count me out).
🔥 Choosing activities that we enjoy—not just what entertains the kids. You like spa days? Great! You hate sticky hands? Ban them. (Sticky hands pickup particles and become gross, plus they discolor our walls, so they are no longer allowed at our house).
🔥 Not killing ourselves trying to create perfect moments. A messy, chaotic, laughter-filled game night is still a win, even if someone ends the night on the floor throwing a fit.

I enjoy ice cream on deck…even if everyone else says it’s too cold

Make the Family Contribute to the Fun

Moms don’t have to be the sole providers of fun. Hand off some of the responsibility!

👉 Let the kids plan a day of fun—but with realistic rules (i.e., no, we cannot go to Disney World every weekend).
👉 Make “fun” a group effort—create a list of fun ideas everyone contributes to, not just you.
👉 Dads, or significant others need to step up—if they can figure out multiple fantasy football leagues, they can figure out how to plan a family day.

The whole family agreed that it was time to go back to the hotel and watch the fireworks there to just relax

Fun Doesn’t Have to Be Fancy

We don’t have to go big just to make things fun. In fact, some of the best memories come from the little, everyday things:

❤️ Watching a movie together in pajamas, eating popcorn straight from the bag.
❤️ Blasting 90s throwback jams in the kitchen and teaching the kids our dance moves (yes, they will cringe, and yes, that makes it better).
❤️ Making an ice cream bar (sprinkles anyone?) on a random Sunday afternoon.

A tradition in our house is to make chocolate covered strawberries for Valentine’s Day

The Takeaway? Take Back the Fun

Mom life doesn’t have to be all logistics, meal planning, and being the default parent. We deserve to enjoy the fun along with the rest of the family. And if we’re in charge of making it happen, we might as well make sure we love it just as much as everyone else.

So go ahead—plan something fun for you, guilt-free. And if anyone complains? Just remind them that mom’s fun is officially a priority now. We plan it – now it’s our time to enjoy it too!

Until next time, enjoy the journey!

Copyright Me Time 4 Mom, LLC