Moms Of 3 Are More Stressed Than Those With Any Other Number Of Children

Moms of three kids are apparently pretty stressed out, according to this survey

If you have kids, spend time around kids, or are responsible for kids in any way, shape, or form you know they can be stressful from time to time, no matter how many you have (understatement of the century). But one survey finds that having a certain number of kids creates the most stress for moms — and that magic number is three.

A study done by TODAY Parents in 2013 has resurfaced recently talking about what moms are most stressed about in parenthood. The survey reached 7,164 moms in the United States, and among other things, they found moms of three kids are more stressed out than moms of one, two, four or more.

What’s even more frightening (though not at all surprising) is that on average, the stress level of all moms who responded was at eight and a half on a scale of one to ten. They also found 60 percent stressed more about their girls than their boys and 60 percent said they stressed out the most about there not being enough hours in a day to get everything accomplished.

Obviously, for anyone who has any number of kids, stress is a common state of mind. But as a mom with three kids (one of which is a girl), I couldn’t agree more with the sentiments above. No one wants to be a one-upper (especially where stress is concerned) but I’ve found trying to get three kids to different places at once and manage all of their needs at different ages is all-consuming. Add a teenage girl in the mix and my stress level on a daily basis can best be described as “Monica from Friends after 16 espressos.”

Psychiatrist Dr. Janet Taylor told TODAY that after three kids, she believes moms start to relax a bit. “There’s just not enough space in your head for perfectionism when you get to four or more kids,” she said. “The more children you have, the more confident you become in your parenting abilities. You have to let go … and then you’re just thankful when they all get to school on time.”

I think I’ll just take her word on that one…

So, what else stresses moms out? Everything from money worries, the pressure to be perfect, and almost half (46 percent) feel like their husband/partners stress them out more than their kids.

The survey also found nine out of 10 moms stress about staying fit and attractive and a whopping 72 percent stress about how stressed out they are, basically making parenthood one big, vicious cycle of tension and anxiety.

Lucky for us, our kids do bring joy and laughter from time to time and someday they’ll be out of the house and we can spend the rest of our days staring blankly at a wall wondering what in the hell just happened. Cheers!