Wife Called Unfair For Asking Husband To Watch Their Kids For 30 Minutes A Day While She Makes Dinner
She said it's a safety issue, but he still struggled to help.
Vanessa Loring | Pexels A frustrated mom posted on Reddit after her husband said it's "not fair" that she asks him to watch their two kids right after getting home from work so she can get dinner ready. The 30-year-old mom claimed that her husband hates cooking, which is why she took on the task; however, that doesn't stop him from complaining about taking care of the kids while she tackles the food prep.
Parenting definitely isn't easy, but that's not exactly a secret. When a dad complains about needing a break after a full day of work, it's understandable, but also kind of unreasonable. This mom is only asking for 30 minutes, and it's not so she can soak in a tub and relax. She's making them dinner.
A wife was accused of being unfair to her husband for asking him to watch their kids for 30 minutes while she made dinner.
"We have two kids, 1 and 2 years old. I work from home part-time, 12pm-5:30pm Monday through Friday. I also watch our two kids. In the morning they get all my attention, and it’s not too bad, but in the afternoons after their naps when I’m trying to work, keeps them entertained and taken care of it’s quite difficult," she began in her Reddit post.
Tima Miroshnichenko | Pexels
She explained that they're actively working on coming up with a different solution, but for now, this is the only setup that works for them. Right when she gets off work, her husband arrives home, and she immediately starts making dinner. Since she hates doing laundry and he doesn't like to cook, they have an agreement where she does all the cooking and he'll do the laundry. Seems fair, right?
The only thing she asks of him while she's cooking is to watch the kids and keep them out of the kitchen for at least 30 minutes while she prepares the food. Despite how low-maintenance the request is, she noticed that her husband struggles immensely with the task.
"He usually asks for help when one is fussing or he has to go to the bathroom or whatever. Tonight, I was in the middle of cooking, hands dirty, stove and oven on, and he asked if I could help change one of the kids while he held the other cause he was being fussy. I told him no, that I do this all day by myself AND work, and all I need is 20 minutes to cook for everyone," she recalled.
Women are usually the ones who do most of the childcare in their relationships.
According to a survey from YouGov, two in five women who work full-time and have a partner (38%) said household tasks mostly fall on them, compared with only 9% of men in the same situation. Only 6% of working women who are in a relationship said their partner manages the domestic work.
Only around two-fifths of women and men working full-time said they split the chores equally in their relationship, at 39% vs 43%. For the most part, women are the ones doing the childcare on top of everything else they have to do; it can be quite a burden.
In this woman's case, after her husband continued to complain, she finally gave in and helped, but she pointed out that she felt he could've handled it while she made dinner for 30 minutes. She explained that any other time they're home together, they make sure that they're giving each other breaks to relax. The care is usually split evenly when they're both home, but in this instance, it seemed like her husband was just overwhelmed and too tired to help.
The thing is, she's not asking for much. Her husband should be able to care for their kids for a short amount of time while she gets things done, regardless of how tired he is after work. Guess who else is tired? Yup, this mom is. She's not kicking back, eating bonbons in the kitchen while he's with the kids. The fact that he's struggling as hard as he is shows that he depends on her to step up and take care of their kids more than he should.
In a marriage, you should be able to lean on your partner for help. Otherwise, you might as well do it all on your own.
Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor's degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.
