Published: 02:10 EDT, September 19, 2023 | Updated: 04:29 EDT, September 19, 2023
While most parents get up at the crack of dawn and start their morning routine to send their kids to school, one dad has revealed he’s bucking the trend and giving himself more beauty sleep.
Posted on Reddit, anonymous father from US told ‘Am I the A******’ thread that he didn’t want to get up earlier to help his “overwhelmed” wife by sharing the parenting duties – but insisted that he was still “an involved and active parent.”
The angry father-of-three, 38, revealed he has three children with his wife, 37. The children are eight, 10 and 12 years old.
Discussing his penchant for sleeping in, the father said he and his wife recently had an argument after she asked him to get up at 6:45 a.m. to get the children ready for the 7:45 a.m. school bus. In response to their request, he argues that they are old enough to finish themselves.
In response to his predicament, readers branded him “lazy” and unwilling to help his wife – although many agreed with him that his children should be able to prepare for school.
Most parents have to get up to send their kids to school – and that often means early in the morning – but one dad wasn’t so willing to give up his beauty sleep (stock photo)
The man told the “Am I the A*shole” thread on Reddit that he couldn’t be bothered to kiss his little ones goodbye – but insisted he was “an involved and active parent”.
As it stands, the anonymous father refuses to help his children prepare for school in the morning, meaning his wife has to get up early and help them instead.
He argues that she should do less for the children to encourage them to be independent – but in response she chides him for his lack of commitment.
While he complained about his wife’s parenting methods, he added that he felt she was too strict with screen time, explaining that she only allows the children to look at screens for two hours a week.
He argued: “As long as the homework is done, why not.” [allow them screen time] until bedtime?’
He complained about his wife’s “constant state of overwhelm”, which “irritated her very easily”, but claimed that the stress came from “holes of his own making” which he was then supposed to fix.
When he suggested that his children prepare their own breakfast because they know how to make granola, he complained that his wife pushed back, arguing that granola wasn’t “substantial” enough for a breakfast meal.
The husband was happy to do his “fair share for the children or the household,” but feared it would never be enough “because their standards are damn high.”
He asked people on Reddit whether encouraging his wife to work less around the house was unreasonable, both for him and for her.
In response, some people criticized the father of three for his “laziness” and urged him to “become a truly involved parent like your wife is.”
One parent even chimed in and said that she changed her entire job “to go back to school,” leading others to praise her as a “loving and caring parent.”
Another expressed, “It makes me sad for the kids that OP could be a part of the morning and just choose not to when so many parents don’t even have a choice.”
And one user mocked the father’s claim that he is an involved and active parent, saying: “I want to sleep in so my eight year old should be able to get up and get ready for school on his own.” Also you can watch TV all day.
Another Redditor compared his own childhood experience to that of the father’s three children, saying that they began preparing for school starting in first grade. However, the person added that this was not correct and that they had an “abusive mother.”
The person explained, “I came home from school, made my own dinner, did my homework and went to bed.”
“But that’s because I had an abusive mother who only had me to get support for her child.” So OP, think about what kind of parent you want to be and adjust accordingly.
A more sympathetic user told him, “Granola is a healthy breakfast if you buy the right cereal,” but still felt that “a parent needs to be vigilant.”
