Parents are Martyrs

Single mothers raise babies all of the time. Billions upon billions of babies have been raised in conditions short of the cozy modern American household. Why do today's helicopter parents say things like "I haven't slept in 2 years" or "taking care of the baby is another full-time job when I get home from work"? The simple math is that there are two of you and one of the baby.

Why don't parents work as a team more? It seems like you'd be more well-adjusted and sane if you covered for each other a night or two each week: if I still had time for the occasional pickup basketball game or bike ride, and my wife still had time for shopping with her mom or dinner with a friend. Surely one person could handle the baby for a few hours, right? Especially if the baby is in daycare most of the day anyways.

Or maybe people just dig the extreme sport of parenting, one-upping each other with stories of sacrifice and endurance.

This is the perspective of a childless person, so I reserve the right to change my opinion at a future date.