Dad Says He Will Never Know Exhaustion Like His Wife Does
This Dad Admitted He'll Never "Know Exhaustion" Like His Wife Does — and the Internet Is Rejoicing
Paul Barbero, a father of two from Melbourne, Australia, damn well knows just how hard his wife, Adele, works to take care of their children. But like any mom with young kids, sometimes the inevitable happens, and she gets sick. In an emotional Facebook post from December 2017 that's recently been making rounds again, Paul explained how he was way too proud of himself for getting through one hectic night without her help:
At first I was pretty proud of myself, I'd gotten two kids and an adult into bed by 7:30 p.m. As I strutted quietly out of the room, I started thinking about how I'd spend my night; [eating] Nutella from a jar while watching Back to the Future was my first thought. Then I turned back, looked at my wife and little girl, and it hit me like a ton of bricks: both of them are so sick, really congested, and absolutely exhausted after three nights in a row with barely any sleep. I felt like such an ass thinking about how I could now enjoy a few hours of "me time" when she has put me and this family before her own health and hasn't moaned once.
Despite feeling under the weather, Adele didn't miss a beat when it came time to making sure her husband was cared for when he got home for the night. "Would you believe I came home to a gourmet-cooked meal, clean house, and somehow a load of wash done, folded, and put away? Like my wife somehow has four extra hours in a day that the rest of us mere mortals don't get."
Paul then admitted that he's not entirely sure that he will ever fully experience or understand exactly what his wife does every single day.
"As a man, I don't think I've ever truly known or will know exhaustion in the same way a mom does," he wrote. "Tonight, as I was comforting Chloe and trying to get her to sleep, Adele said she was just gonna lay down for a bit before tidying the kitchen and making me some lunch for tomorrow. Her last thought before passing out was, 'I must clean the kitchen and make my hubby some lunch,' and my last thought was, 'Ooh, snacks and TV.'"
After writing that he was "off to the clean that kitchen" rather than watching the movie he planned to snack in front of, Paul shared a message for other partners out there: your wife is probably just as tired. "Any other husbands reading this, I urge you to [help out every once in a while]. I'm willing to bet dollars to donuts that the real mom in your household is just as exhausted."
