An exhausted mother has gone viral after sharing an open letter asking her husband for more help with their baby.
Caring for a young child is no easy job, and no one knows this better than Celeste Yvonne, a mother and a blogger who was pushed to her limits while watching over her toddler and her newborn child.
In an open letter to her husband, Yvonne pleaded for help and revealed how angry she was after her husband failed to watch over their kids while she tried to get some much-needed rest.
“Dear Husband, I. Need. More. Help,” the exhausted mom wrote.
“Last night was hard for you. I asked you to watch the baby so I could go to bed early. The baby was crying. Wailing, really. I could hear him from upstairs and my stomach knotted from the sound, wondering if I should come down there and relieve you or just shut the door so I could get some desperately needed sleep. I chose the latter.
“You came into the room 20 minutes later, with the baby still frantically crying. You placed the baby in the bassinet and gently pushed the bassinet just a few inches closer to my side of the bed, a clear gesture that you were done watching him.
“I wanted to scream at you. I wanted to launch an epic fight that very moment. I had been watching the baby and the toddler all damn day. I was going to be waking up with the baby to feed him all damn night. The least you could do is hold him for a couple of hours in the evening so I can attempt to sleep.”
The mother went on to acknowledge the fact that both she and her husband were raised in families with traditional family roles that saw their mothers care for the kids. However, she expressed concern that their family, too, is “falling into these family dynamics” where she is expected to do everything despite having to return to work as well.
“I blame myself for most of it too. I have set the precedent that I can do it. And in truth I want to. No offense, but I’m not sure I want to know what a week’s worth of dinner would look like with you in charge,” Yvonne said.
“I also see my friends and other moms doing it all, and doing it well. I know you see it, too. If they can manage it, and if our mothers did it so well for us, why can’t I? I don’t know.
“Maybe our friends are playing the part in public and secretly struggling. Maybe our moms suffered in silence for years and now, thirty years later, they simply don’t remember how hard it really was. Or maybe, and this is something I berate myself over every single day, I’m just not as qualified for the job as everyone else. And as much as I cringe just thinking it, I’m going to say it: I need more help.”
As the struggling mom added, her husband is a great father and she feels “like a failure” for asking for more help. Still, she felt cornered and pressured into asking him to help her care for the kids in the morning and evening because she, too, is only human and has her limits.
The mother also requested more time on weekends so that she can “feel like an individual” and do something other than her typical responsibilities and chores.
“Lastly, I need to hear you’re grateful for all I do. I want to know that you notice the laundry is done and a nice dinner has been prepared. I want to know you appreciate that I breastfeed at all hours and pump when I’m at work when it would be easier for me to formula feed,” Yvonne expressed.
“I hope you notice that I never ask you to stay home from your networking events and sport activities. As the mom, it’s assumed I’ll be home all the time and always available to care for the kids while you’re out and I feed that assumption by, well, being home all the time.”
Concluding her open letter, the mom admitted she was getting to her breaking point as she urged her husband to get out of his comfort zone and do more.
“I’m telling you how much I need you, and if I keep going at the pace I’ve been on, I will break. And that would hurt you, the kids, and our family. Because, let’s face it: you need me, too,” she penned.
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Replaced!