When the father of the family returned home after work, he decided to watch a soccer match in peace, without binding himself with domestic and parental obligations. He had no desire at all to put the screaming children to bed.
But that evening everything was destined to change – slamming the door, his wife left, having lost her patience. The children were left with their father. The serene man’s world of beer on the couch was suddenly turned upside down. This is what the husband wrote to his wife a couple of days later:
“My darling, A couple of days ago we had a fight. I came home, collapsing with exhaustion. It was 8 p.m., and I just wanted to collapse on the couch and watch the game. You were in a bad mood and terribly tired, too. The kids were fighting and the baby was screaming while you put him to bed. I turned up the volume so I couldn’t hear any of it.
“It wouldn’t kill you to help out a little and contribute to the kids’ upbringing, would it?” – you asked, turning down the volume.
I replied irritably, “I worked all day so you could stay home and play dollhouse all the time.”
The argument began, one by one the arguments fell. You were crying because you were tired and angry. I said a lot of things to you. You screamed that you couldn’t take it anymore. Then you ran out of the house and left me alone with the children.
I had to feed them dinner and put them to bed myself. The next day you didn’t come back. I took the day off work and stayed home with the kids.
I went through all the crying and complaining. I ran around the house in circles all day, not even having a free minute to take a bath. I warmed milk, dressed the kids, and washed the kitchen at the same time. At the same time. I was locked in the house all day, unable to talk to someone over the age of 10. I didn’t have a chance to properly sit down at the table and enjoy my meal – I had to watch the kids all the time.
I felt so exhausted that I could have slept for 20 hours without waking up, but that’s impossible because the baby wakes up and screams every three hours. I went two days and one night without you. I get it. I understood how tired you are. I understood: being a mother is a constant sacrifice. I get that it’s a lot harder than sitting in an office for 10 hours and making major financial decisions. I realized – you sacrificed your career and financial freedom to be there for your kids. I realized how hard it is when your financial situation depends not on you, but on your partner.
I’ve learned what you sacrifice when you refuse to go to a party with your friends or to the gym. You simply can’t do the things you love or even get a good night’s sleep.
I understood how you feel when you’re locked away with the kids and you miss out on everything that’s going on around you. I get why you get offended when my mom criticizes your parenting methods. No one understands children better than their mother. I realized that mothers have the greatest responsibility in society. No one, unfortunately, appreciates or extols that. I’m not writing you this letter just to tell you how much I miss you. I don’t want another day of you to go by without those words:
“You’re very brave, you’re doing great, and I admire you!”
The role of wife, mother and homemaker in society, being the most important, is really the least valued. Distribute this letter to your friends so that we will all eventually begin to praise the most important profession in the world: the profession of mothers.
