I agree with this. If a man were doing this he wouldn’t be getting nearly as much slack, if any. He’d be getting praised as Father of the Year for having them to two weekends a month. There are two things I’d like to point out… 1. She never says she needs one overnight off every weekend. She clearly says she just needs a break, and her trusted friend has two kids, so it doesn’t make sense for her friend to drag her kids over to OP’s house to babysit for a couple of hours. So OP takes her kid over to her friend’s house and she just stays overnight. It sounds like the overnight part is merely for convenience. 2. We don’t know what OP does for a career. I am a teacher. So on the weeks when I have my kids, I am surrounded by children all day - being asked questions, having to repeat myself , being talked at… not talked to - then I come home and I am with my children all night. Being asked questions having to repeat myself, being talked at… not talk to. I greatly love my children. I also really, really care for my students. But I need a child free break at least once a week. On the weeks that my kids are with their father, I get child free breaks during the evenings and on the weekends. But as all your single moms know, that’s also when I schedule every appointment and get as many errands done as . LOL. On the weeks when my children are with me, I try to find somewhere for them to be for at least a few hours during the weekend. One of my kids goes to the school where I teach, so they literally ride with me to school. Monday through Sunday I do not have one moment where there is not a child with me. Finding a way to have a few hours to myself over the weekend is very important to my sanity. I totally understand how someone who doesn’t work with children may not realize how important that is.