A Mom Wonders Where All The "Middle Class Mom" Content Is On Social Media

The other day, I was doing my daily (okay, hourly) TikTok scroll when I came across a restocking video. Now, I love a good restocking video. Someone so wealthy that their fridge has their own snack drawer, stocked perfectly with delicious treats for her kids. Now and again, it’s nice for my mind to kind of venture off into another world where people are so damn rich.

However, when those types of videos started to become more common in my TikTok feed, I had to try and reset my algorithm because I wasn’t finding joy in the content anymore. In fact, it made me feel like s**t. The cherry on top of this was a video posted by a popular content creator who was creating a holiday “thank you” cart for delivery drivers. The cart contained expensive protein bars and that fancy ten dollar hand sanitizer.

Her video put my little bucket of bottled water and fun-sized candy to shame. There was just nothing relatable about this. Apparently, I am not alone in this kind of thinking. TikTok user and mom, Bri, went viral for asking a very valid question: where are all the middle class moms?

“I'm just wondering where are the moms like me who are wearing a sweater from 2016? Most of the nicer things that they own were gifted to them at some point in their lives who the newest part of their Christmas decor every year is the Christmas tree. Where are those moms?” Bri asks while sitting in her 2015 car with a hundred thousand miles on the odometer.

“Because what I'm seeing all over social media are these like massive, massive hauls of new Christmas decor with you know mom in like this brand new outfit, babies dressed to the nines, house is immaculate and massive. Cars brand new.”

She goes on to say that her entire social media feed tends to highlight these wealthy, extravagant lifestyles of overconsumption with these influencers “having it all.” way.

“That’s just not my reality, and I don't think that's the reality for a majority of us honestly, for real. Like in this economy, absolutely not,” she says.

“I guess what I'm saying is that 99% of what I'm seeing on social media, especially right now during the holidays, I do not relate to. I do not relate to the over the top extravagant lifestyles with a mortgage to kids, student loans up the wazoo and the price of groceries. Like that's just not my life and it probably never will be and that's okay.”

That’s why these kind of videos (dropping $200 at Sephora for an “errands run”) are just not working for the middle class mom.

After Bri’s call out to middle class moms, they actually showed up in droves in her comment section.

“We’re in the majority but too tired/busy to be posting all the time. You’re doing great ❤️,” one user wrote.

Another said, “Here here here!! One income and one car family drowning in student debt in a rental townhouse 😅😅 fighting that overconsumption temptation errday”

“Hi! 👋🏻 we are here! Old clothes, tired, overwhelmed, dirty house, and 2015 car here with 155,000 miles lol - you are not alone!” one user echoed.

“Yup none of my decor “matches” it’s just a hodgepodge of thrift and craft sale finds. My kids won’t remember if the decor matched, so who cares. 🤷‍♀️,” another said.

The OP replied, “100% agreed!! Most of ours is from Michael’s circa 2016 when it was 40% off 😅 they don’t care even a little bit”

Sleep Foundation recently released a survey which found out that 77% of U.S. adults say they lose sleep over money worries at least some of the time with 43% of people surveyed admitting to losing sleep over the ability to pay household bills, making it the most common financial worry.

With over 3/4 of the country literally worrying themselves into insomnia, it’s no wonder more people are wondering how these out of touch influencers are affording these lifestyles and calling for a more realistic glimpse into motherhood and mom life.