Mom Brain Isn’t Forgetfulness: It’s Full Storage and 47 Tabs Open

Let’s be honest… “mom brain” is not forgetting your coffee in the microwave.

It’s remembering everything that actually matters while running a full household operating system with zero extra storage.

In this episode, Kassi breaks down what mom brain really is — and why it has nothing to do with being scattered or incapable.

She dives into:

• why moms can remember every appointment but still lose their phone in their hand
• how the brain prioritizes survival over small details
• the invisible “memory job” moms carry for their entire family
• why constant interruptions create mental overload
• and why this kind of exhaustion isn’t fixed by sleep

Plus, she shares painfully relatable stories — from the grocery trip where the one essential item was forgotten, to bedtime chaos, to the coffee that gets reheated three times and still never finished.

This episode is for the moms who feel like they’re holding everything together while also forgetting the smallest things.

They’re not failing.

They’re overloaded.

And they’re doing an incredible job.

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About the Show

A real, raw, funny take on motherhood, chaos, healing, and remembering who you are under the mom-life mess.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:18

Hey guys, welcome back to a Glass and a Giggle. If you're new here, hi, I'm Cassie, mom of two, default keeper of schedules, snacks, appointments, emotional breakdowns, backup outfits, and somehow the only person who knows where everyone's shoes are at all times. And today we're talking about mom brain. Not the cute little oops, I forgot my coffee in the microwave version. My problem isn't forgetting the important things. I don't forget the pediatrician appointment. I don't forget the birthdays. I don't forget when we're out of wipes or which kid suddenly hates the snack they loved three days ago. I remember everything that actually matters. The problem is there is no room left for anything else. So if I walk into a room and forget why I'm there, it's not because I'm flaky. It's because my brain is currently holding a grocery list, a schedule, a meltdown forecast, dinner plans, and a mental note that if I don't switch the laundry soon, the entire house is gonna smell like wet regret. This episode is for the moms who look like they have it together, but feel completely maxed out. You are not forgetting, you are overloaded. The best way I can explain mom brain is phone storage. You know that moment when your phone says storage full and you can't even take a picture? That's motherhood. Before my kids, my brain had space. I was just managing my own life, my own schedule, my own responsibilities, my own appointments. And if I forgot something, it really only affected me. But now, my brain is managing multiple lives at once. It's tracking today, tomorrow, next week, and also everything that could go wrong if I don't think three steps ahead. So yeah, I might forget where I set my sunglasses, but I remembered we're low on medicine, there's a school thing next week, one kid slept weird and might spiral by noon, we need more milk, and I need to take the chicken out of the freezer. That's not forgetfulness, that's prioritization. The small stuff gets pushed out because the important stuff has to stay. And if I don't bring the right cup, someone will emotionally collapse in public. This is what makes moms feel insane, because on one hand, you know you're sharp. You're tracking details no one else ever notices, you're anticipating problems before they happen. You're basically running a tiny human logistics company all day long. And you're thinking three steps ahead consistently. But then on the other hand, you lose your phone while it's literally in your hand. Your sunglasses are on top of your head and you still don't know where they are. How are all these things true? How can you remember an appointment from three months ago, but forget why you opened your phone and who you were gonna call five seconds ago? Because your brain is acting like an overworked executive assistant running the entire household with no support staff. The important systems have to stay. Everything that keeps the family functioning stays. Everything else, deleted, or at least temporarily unavailable. There was a day not long ago where I felt like I was absolutely crushing it. Like everything was going right for once. I remembered an appointment that had been on the calendar for weeks, not vaguely, like I knew the time, I knew what we needed, I was mentally prepared. I got one kid dressed without a meltdown, which honestly deserves recognition. A diaper bag was packed ahead of time. Snacks, packed, backup outfit, packed, water, packed. I even checked it twice because like I was about to board a flight, not a doctor's appointment. And then I had that rare moment when I was like, wait, am I thriving now? Is this what it's like having it all together? So we're about to leave. I go to grab my phone. Gone. Just gone. And immediately I feel my entire mood shift because nothing humbles you faster than losing something when you were just feeling confident. So now I'm doing the rounds, I check the counter, the bathroom, the kitchen table, the diaper bag, the car, the pantry, the fridge. Because honestly, I've done worse. Nothing. So now I call it from someone else's phone. I can hear it vibrating somewhere, but I cannot find it. And I swear that is one of the most frustrating experiences because now it's like a game. Where are you? Why are you hiding? I know you're here. We're getting later. The kids are starting to unravel. I'm getting more irritated. And I'm like, I know I just had this. And you know where I found it? Under a folded sweatshirt that I had very intentionally set aside because I remember that one of the kids might get cold. Like I had a whole thought process about it. Oh, it might get chilly. Let me grab this. Let me put this here so I don't forget it. So let's really take that in. I remembered the temperature change. I planned ahead. I executed the plan. But I lost my phone in the process. That's mom brain in one story. Another one that still irritates me. I went to the store for one thing. One. I needed paper towels. That was an entire mission. Not a grocery run, not a grab a few things, paper towels. I walked in and immediately my brain starts expanding the trip. Oh, we're low on yogurt. Oh, we need more strawberries. Do we have snacks for the week? Toothpaste. Did I buy toothpaste? No, I thought about buying toothpaste and mentally counted that as having toothpaste. Classic. We need a dish-up, coffee creamer. What are we doing for dinner tomorrow? Maybe I should just grab something now so I don't have to think about it later. And now suddenly I'm not on a paper towel run anymore. I am conducting a full household audit. I'm thinking ahead. I'm solving problems that haven't even happened yet. I'm trying to make future me's life easier, and I'm feeling productive about it. Like, wow, look at me being efficient. So I check out, I leave, I get home, I start unloading the bags, and I realize there are no paper towels. Not one. The reason I went, and I just stood there like, how? How did I do everything except one thing? And instead of even being mad, I just started laughing because it's actually the perfect example. My brain did not fail. It overachieved. Just not in the direction I needed. This is the part that people don't see. Moms are the memory system. We remember appointments, birthdays, school things, sizes, snacks, medicine forms, schedules. We are tracking everything consistently. And just because it's happening in your head does not mean it's not work. Because it is. And it never shuts off. There is no clocking out of remembering. And I think that's why moms get so overwhelmed. Because it's not just doing things. It's remembering that the things that need to be done in the first place take priority. And that's a completely different kind of work. And when everyone relies on you to remember everything, your brain goes into survival mode. It starts holding everything tighter because if you drop it, things fall apart. And that's exhausting. Let me just say something that I think every mom will understand. Nothing makes me more irrationally irritated than someone asking me to remember something for them. Like, hey, can you remind me tomorrow to no, I cannot. Not because I don't love you, but because I'm already the reminder system for the entire household. I am tracking appointments, schedules, snacks, forms, medicine, birthdays, and now I'm also your calendar? Like, no. It's like handling more than one grocery bag when I already have all of them and I'm trying to open the door with my elbow. I might take it, but I'm not happy about it. You know you have mom brain when you hide snacks from your kids and then accidentally hide them from yourself in the process. You remember everyone's birthdays, but have to check what day it is twice. You open your phone with purpose and immediately forget why. You pack everything perfectly for your kids and forget your own stuff. You reheat the same coffee three times and still don't drink it. So maybe your brain isn't broken. Maybe it's full. Maybe you're not scattered, you're just carrying everything. The schedule, the snacks, the appointments, the emotions, the logistics, and the entire system that keeps your family and household running. You are not failing. You are overloaded. And the fact you're still showing up and remembering everything that matters, that is incredible. So here's to the moms with full storage and too many tabs open. I see you. I am you. And as always, grab your glass and embrace the chaos. I'll talk to you next time.