Fathers have it easy

Last night Tommie said:  

I wonder how it feels to sleep through the night.  I haven’t slept through the night in a week!

You haven’t slept through in a week!?  Boo-hoo to you, you big baby!  I have not slept properly in six years!  He was rather suprised by this.  I wonder how he can not know that I haven’t slept through the night for six years (except for three months before Zander was born lol)   

That just made me think how easy Dads have it.  Although I should not generalize like that.  I have stay-at-home-dads reading my blog and I’m pretty sure they go through what I go through too.  So lets pin this squarly on my hubby.

• I’m the one who ends up with sleepless nights
• I get to drop kids of at school (although in his defense he drops Quintus of 90 % of the time)  However what gets to me is that if he can’t, then he just can’t and I have to step up to do it.
• School activities are my responsibiliy – understandably so as he is most often not in town.  However on the odd occassion that I’ll ask him to help out and it is somewhat difficult for him, he will just say no and the kids just have to cope with not going.
• I’m the one who gets to take my baby to work.  Yes, this has it’s advantages.  Many actually but also it makes working very tough.  Especially when he is sick and crying.
• I’m responsible for taking them to the doctor if they are sick. I just have to make a plan, even if it is near impossible.

Now trust me, he does his fair share of household chores and helping out with the kids.  Probably more than the average Afrikaans speaking father (I say that, as most Afrikaans speaking fathers feel it’s the mothers job to raise the kids, make food, run his bath, rub his sore feet, see to all his needs, jump when he says so). 

It’s just he helps out when he can, when it suits him.  If it doesn’t, then tough, I just have to.  See my point?  He has an option to help.  I have to.

Okay, I am very tired after sleeping nothing last night.  So I’m probably not very reasonable.  He did though take out his golf clubs this morning to go play golf this afternoon and I just thought that is so unfair.  I get no sleep, yet I still have to work a full day.  I still have to pick the kids up from school.  Still need to get them to karate on time.  Still need to work with a sick, crying baby on my lap.  And he gets to play golf!?

Is it fair that it upsets me?  Does it really hurt me if he takes time of from his job to play golf?  It’s not as though he is pushing any of his parenting duties off on me.  It is already mine.  My thought though is that he can take some of that responsibility of my shoulders on a Wednesday if he already has time to play golf.  Give me a break and my mom.

So do me a favour.   Let’s do a vote on this and see what you all feel:

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