Like many online controversies, the TikTok video “17 diapers” began so simply. In it, an admittedly overwhelmed mother of two named Hannah Hiatt decided to poke fun at herself after a solo parenting weekend by counting the number of dirty diapers she had lying around her house.
Since she posted the video earlier this month, Hannah has been called disgusting, gone viral, and, more recently, has become an icon for the overwhelming pressures of motherhood and the postpartum period. All this, counting diapers. That’s the Internet for you!
Here’s everything you need to know about Hannah and her “17 diapers” video, in this edition of TL;DR.
Give me the TL;DR.
A mother of two named Hannah Hiatt has sparked a conversation about parenting and burnout after posting a tongue-in-cheek TikTok video in which she reveals she has 17 dirty diapers lying around her house.
Wait, I need more. What’s the bottom line here?
On October 5, Hannah, who has a two-year-old and a newborn, posted a TikTok video asking viewers to guess how many dirty diapers she probably has lying around her house.
“I kid you not, my guess is probably 15,” he says.
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Hannah explains that she and her husband don’t have a diaper pail, and they usually change their children in several places around the house. Usually, she says, they go around and collect the diapers at the end of the day, but she had been parenting alone for a whole day at this point.
Then, take the camera around to collect all the diapers they have accumulated. There are four on the coffee table, some scattered on the floor in the living room, and then the rest are in his room and on the landing.
“No wonder my house smells right now,” he says, before ending the video.
The video was only a minute and a half long, but it has now been viewed over 7 million times. And everyone, and we mean everyone, has an opinion.
What does the internet think?
People’s opinions (unsolicited) about Hannah and her video fall into two main categories:
Those who call her disgusting and shameful, and those who encourage her to pass this moment of being overwhelmed by motherhood.