Likely Normal

The annual Mom Games represent the pinnacle of competitive suburban survival skills, where twenty-four battle-hardened parents enter a superstore arena but only one emerges victorious. This isn’t your typical Hunger Games – here the weapons are Yelp reviews sharper than kitchen knives, coupon binders heavier than battle axes, and the ability to maintain composure when the self-checkout machine accuses you of “unexpected item in bagging area.” The stakes? A grand prize including a year’s supply of coffee that’s actually hot, one genuine day off (terms and conditions apply), and the highly-coveted “I Survived” tote bag that every other mom will secretly envy.

This year’s competition features legendary contenders like Karen “The Couponator” Williamson, whose expired Bed Bath & Beyond coupons strike fear into cashiers’ hearts, and Linda “Gluten-Free Guerrilla” Peterson, who can turn a handful of chia seeds and disappointment into a week’s worth of meal prep. Then there’s Susan “Price Per Ounce” Miller, the human calculator who knows exactly when bulk buying stops being economical, and Becky “Let Me Speak To Your Manager” Johnson, whose ability to escalate complaints to corporate levels is nothing short of magical.

The battleground is the SuperMart Mega-Store, a fluorescent-lit labyrinth designed to break spirits. Deadly obstacles lurk around every aisle: the deceptive “Manager’s Special” meat section where expiration dates are merely suggestions, the treacherous home goods department where every candle smells inexplicably of “sea breeze and regret,” and the dreaded electronics section where employees mysteriously vanish when you need price matching. The ultimate test comes at the checkout gauntlet, where competitors must navigate malfunctioning coupon scanners, chatty baggers, and the final boss – a cashier who just started their shift and doesn’t know how to override anything.

As the games reach their climax, alliances formed over shared disdain for sticker prices crumble when the last discounted Instant Pot becomes the object of every competitor’s desire. The final showdown inevitably comes down to a battle of wills at the customer service desk, where the remaining moms deploy their ultimate weapons: Karen produces a coupon so old it’s written in cursive, Linda threatens to report health code violations no one knew existed, and Becky simply begins dialing the corporate office on speakerphone. In the end, there can be only one winner… until they read the fine print and realize the “free coffee for a year” is actually just one free refill per visit and the “day off” requires completing seventeen pages of paperwork in triplicate. Yet they’ll all be back next year, because somewhere between the coupon clipping and the passive-aggressive Yelp reviews, they’ve found their people. The Mom Games aren’t about winning – they’re about proving you can survive anything, even your own unrealistic expectations.