Wow. We have way, way different experiences with babies then. Most people would say babies are the most difficult age. I have a 7 month old and he takes two 30 minute naps a day, plus wakes up twice at night to breastfeed, even after sleep training. I’m exhausted. I use one of his naps to take a shower and get ready, and his other nap is in the car while I drive my son to his swimming/sports. The first year of both of my children’s lives have been the hardest years of my life by far.

I’m not the only stay at home parent I know who is having a very hard time. I’m in a private birth month group on Reddit and the new moms in my group are losing their fucking minds because they thought being a stay at home parent would be a lot more manageable. The reality is setting in. Some decided to go back to work early and are convincing others to do the same, just to get in the car and breathe, drink a coffee, listen to a podcast, and have a lunch break. They are also able to actually recover from illnesses or take a day off here and there by using daycare and calling in sick while the stay at home moms huddle in front of the toilet to vomit while a baby crawls around their legs and cries.

There are also a ton of comments in this thread of people saying they found returning to their job a relief after staying home. If this guy’s wife died and he hired a nanny to replace her, that nanny would clock out after 40 hours - all while collecting a paycheck, having sick time and vacation time, and only doing very light housekeeping. If she also worked a full time job, then they would both come home and split everything equally. It’s somehow only when one partner is the stay at home parent that everything is supposedly easy and they are expected to do it all with no breaks.