A Mom Explains What "Mom Dinner" Is and It's Painfully Accurate for Busy Parents

If you're a busy parent, then you know all too well the dance of preparing your kids' meals so they can eat well before you do since you have barely enough time to brush your teeth or take out the trash. As a mom, it's the struggle of caring for the kids while my husband is at work for 12 hours a day. And one mom on TikTok by the name of @vermomster, whose real name is Erin, explains the truth about "mom dinner."

It's the little bites of food or scraps we fit in while cooking the kids' meals or cleaning up after them. For some of us, it's hard to find the time to actually sit down and eat. So instead, we take a bite of mac and cheese here and scarf down some crust there.

I am guilty of doing this, since some nights, my husband and I eat together, after he's home from a long day of work and after the kids are in bed. So in the meantime, I have my "mom dinner" to tide me over and give me energy.

In her video, Erin explains, "This is my meal, I call it 'mom dinner,'" before we see a series of clips of her eating random bites of food from the meals she prepares for her kids.

There's a scoop of leftover rice in a pot, a spoonful of macaroni and cheese in a non-elbow macaroni shape, and there's even some crust leftover from what appears to be dry toast.

She says in the caption, "Mom dinner is made up of at least one bite of each ingredient and / or meal made by oneself to feed one's family." And she isn't wrong there, especially when weeknights are so busy that it's hard to actually sit down and have a meal yourself.

Sometimes, it's the only "meal" I have time for myself. If it's a busy evening and we are either coming from or going to a sports activity for one of the kids, then I have to make do with whatever is left of a grilled cheese or hamburger.

While the kids eat, I'm scrambling to either get a bath full for one of them or get a soccer uniform and cleats ready for the other. So mom dinner it is.

Other times, I'm simply taking care of household chores while the kids eat. And, to tide myself over until a late dinner with my husband, I'll eat some of the scraps my kids leave behind. I'm basically a raccoon eating over the sink at times. But such is the mom life for some of us and clearly, I am not alone here.

The comments under Erin's video definitely pass the vibe check for other moms who are about that mom dinner life. One mom commented, "Me watching this while eating the rest of the corn out of the serving bowl." Another shared, "The cold mac out of the pan is so real." I can't help but agree with that.

And another user said, "There is something so satisfying about aggressively shoving huge bites of mac and cheese in my face straight from the pot." Maybe I still prefer piping hot and fresh mac and cheese, but I will definitely grab a spoonful of the leftover mac as part of a mom dinner on any given evening.

We have all heard of "girl dinner," which is basically a hodgepodge of appetizers on a plate to make a quick, easy, and delicious solo meal. Mom dinner is a bit different, but the same idea is there. Except I think most of us would also love a girl dinner after the kids go to bed.