With a small voice from the backseat saying “I’m hungry!” I got a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I had forgotten snacks – once again. “Sorry honey, you’re going to have to wait until we get home,” I responded to my younger son.

This is far from an uncommon occurrence. When I read memes like “Moms know where everything is!” or “A Mom always has what her kids need,” I feel a similar pit in my stomach, combined with a queasy jealousy. “Well, that will never be me,” I think to myself. When my kids were babies, we had a diaper bag designed for dads to carry. They had a checklist on the inside pouch and the last item was “the baby.” I know that was supposed to be a joke at dads’ expense, but some days, it felt appropriate to me. My husband isn’t much better either. Both of us are neurodivergent in ways that come with executive function challenges like forgetting details, getting distracted, or misplacing items.

But along our executive dysfunction-riddled journey in parenthood, I’ve come to realize there are some advantages to our kids for having parents like us.