Father Irate With Wife For Continually Texting Updates About Their Sick Child During Guys' Night

Nov 10, 2021 by apost team

Parenting is definitely no easy task. It can come with a lot of hardships and challenges, leaving parents feeling stressed, overwhelmed, and extremely tired. This is why it’s so important for parents to have support systems in place to make sure they’re well-taken care of so they can care for their children even better.

For many parents, this includes hiring a babysitter for the night and going out to fully enjoy themselves. However, it’s also important for people to have their alone time with their own friends, making it common for moms and dads to go out individually, leaving the other one to stay home to watch the kids.

For one dad, he was used to watching his toddler-aged daughter while his wife went out with his friends. She socialized more than him, so he was usually the one left at home. However, one night he had a guys’ night planned with his friends who lived somewhat far away, meaning it was his wife’s turn to watch their child for the night.

Unfortunately, his daughter was sick, so he told his wife when he planned on being home and to let him know if their child’s illness got any worse. Throughout the entire night, his wife would not stop texting him about their sick kid, and he ultimately had to leave the guys’ night early. The next morning, he and his wife got into an argument about how the situation was handled. The man decided to go to Reddit on Nov. 6, 2021, to ask users for any advice they could offer.

Starting off his Reddit post, the original poster (OP) explained that he and his wife “generally co-parent OK.” This parenting style has come in handy for their nights out, as both OP and his wife liked to spend separate time with their respective friends. 

His wife goes out more than him, leaving him responsible for taking care of their child most of the time. “This is absolutely OK with me, and I don’t usually text or call my wife during her nights out to try and let her enjoy herself,” OP said.

One night, OP had plans for a guys’ night. The plan was to get there around 7:30 p.m. and leave to go home around midnight. “When I got to my friend’s, my wife called me to tell me that Little One had been sick,” OP said and told his wife to let him know if the situation got worse.

For the next two hours, his wife sent texts and pictures in a shared family group chat and told everyone how OP was out with his friends while she was stuck at home watching their sick child. “I felt like this was very unfair and made me look like I’d just ditched them,” OP explained. 

He didn’t think it was wrong to expect his wife to be able to watch their daughter for one night. However, when 10 p.m. rolled around, his wife texted him that their child had fallen asleep but wouldn’t put her to bed since it would take two people to change the bedding if she got sick. 

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Even though his wife didn’t explicitly say it, OP knew this was her way of telling him to come home. After only spending about two hours with his friends — most of which was spent checking his texts — he left guys’ night. OP spent the majority of the night taking care of his daughter.

The next morning, OP told his wife that she should be able to handle one night caring for their child without him. He continued, “She said that I was selfish and that I needed to re-evaluate my priorities.” OP argued that he always made sure she wasn’t overly bothered on her nights out, but his wife said it wasn’t a comparable situation.

Fortunately for this dad, Reddit users were on his side. One user commented:

“...Why would it take both of you to change your daughter’s bedding? What would she have done if you were unreachable or out of town? Also, you should definitely discuss her passive aggressively shaming you to your families, that was a low blow and completely out of context. Your wife is being unreasonable.”

Another user said OP’s wife’s actions were major red flags. The user explained:

 “I would either go to marriage counseling, ‘cause y’all majority need it or you seriously re-evaluate your relationship. Your wife has displayed that she doesn’t respect you and it shows by publicly (with your family) trying to shame you because she didn’t get what she wanted and it comes off as really selfish.”

Others agreed that maybe it was time for a change in OP’s relationship and pointed out that it felt like the couple was already divorced based on the language used.

Do you think this dad was unreasonable for expecting his wife to watch their sick daughter alone? Let us know, and be sure to pass this along to your loved ones to find out what they think, too.