Despite the year being 2016, there are still plenty of people who think certain parenting jobs like diaper duty, cleaning, and midnight feedings are mom-only jobs, so one dad felt his wife should be more grateful since he often helped out.
After a long night being kept up by their infant daughter, Clint Edwards thought his wife Mel, who was a full-time mom of three AND a student, should show him a little more gratitude for getting up and staying up with her in the middle of the night despite having to go to work in the morning.
“I was chatting with my wife about the long night we’d had getting up with the baby, when I said, ‘At least I get up with her. A lot of men don’t. You should be grateful.’ I was tired. And I said it like she was really lucky to have me. Like I was going above and beyond as a father.”
After listening calmly to her husband, Mel paused as she held baby Aspen in her arms, and moments later whispered back “I wish you would stop saying that… It doesn’t make me feel like we’re in a partnership. It makes me feel like you want me to kiss your butt every time you get up in the night. This is your baby, too.”
Clint was speechless, and before he said something hurtful or something he didn’t really mean, he left for work. “I drove to work angry,” he explained. “I was 20 minutes into my 30-minute commute when I thought about the last time I had washed dishes. I’d assumed that I should be getting praise or a reward, and for the first time I asked myself, Why? I ate there, too.”
“Then I thought about vacuuming the carpet, or doing the laundry, realized I had the same expectations about those chores, and suddenly I felt like a jerk. The understanding that Mel was responsible for home and child care was so deeply ingrained in my understanding of family and contribution that I’d placed myself on a pedestal for doing something as simple as helping my wife with our baby in the night,” Clent went on to explain.
Do you think a father deserves an award for just being a parent to his kids? Let us know what you think in the comments below, and please SHARE this with friends on Facebook.
[Featured image: Facebook/No Idea What I’m Doing: A Daddy Blog]
Dad Thinks Mom Should Be ‘Grateful’ He Checks The Baby At Night is an article from: LifeDaily