Are you the 'default parent'? 'All Her Fault' explores mothers' mental load

The Peacock limited series “All Her Fault“ has elicited a major response from moms who find it both triggering and validating to see their experiences appear onscreen.

The Peacock limited series “All Her Fault“ about a playdate gone wrong has elicited a major response from moms who find it both triggering and validating to see their everyday experiences appear onscreen.

Peacock is owned by TODAY’s parent company NBCUniversal.

“I’m the default parent and you’re the substitute,” Dakota Fanning says to her onscreen husband. “It’s not equal. It’s never equal.”

Neha Ruch, a mom and author who is rebranding stay-at-home motherhood, defines a “default parent” as “the person who oversees all the nuanced work — intellectually, emotionally, logistically — that keeps everything running to expectation in a household. They’re the delegator, the keeper of the knowledge.”

In most heteronormative relationships, the default parent is most often the mother. In fact, the default parent role is more closely linked to gender rather than income.