Father and Reddit user Big_Yak_7004 has his hands full every day, figuratively and literally. Somehow, the man manages to work full-time (from home) and raise two kids while his wife pursues her medical career.
So, when she got the chance to go on a cross-country trip for a conference, the woman thought it would be a nice opportunity for the whole family to join her and spend some quality time together in a different environment.
However, her husband thinks that it would bring more stress rather than alleviate it, and isn’t so psyched about tagging along.
This dad is the primary parent in his family, and he refused to take the kids and join his wife on her work trip
Image credits: joaquincorbalan/Envato (not the actual photo)
But then he started feeling really guilty about it, so he asked the internet what to do
Image credits: nebojsa_ki/Envato (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Curated Lifestyle/Unsplash (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Big_Yak_7004
Parents need to watch out for themselves to avoid burnout
Image credits: Sandra Seitamaa/Unsplash (not the actual photo)
I don’t want to impersonate an armchair therapist, but having a full-time job and being the primary carer for two young children is a lot of work—certainly enough to burn out and start experiencing chronic parental stress, which is characterized by a parent who is:
- Experiencing physical or emotional exhaustion—or both;
- Feeling shame about their parenting, or that they’re not as good a parent as they used to be;
- Feeling overwhelmed or “fed up” with the role of being a parent;
- Feeling emotionally disconnected from their children.
Despite the author of the post appearing to check a few of these boxes, he also seems to fall into the 60% of parents who don’t do anything to relax and recharge.
Research has shown that moms and dads who are kind to themselves and prioritize self-care have better overall health and well-being.
If (before his inner critic tuned in) sticking to his routine felt like the right move for the dad to preserve his sanity, maybe there’s nothing wrong with it.
As the dad’s story went viral, he joined the discussion in the comments
Most of which said he did nothing wrong
Some, however, felt like he could’ve handled the situation better
There were also those who, instead of judging, offered their sincerest advice
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