Exhausted dad reveals difficulty of 'being mum' in viral post
When Brad Kearns's wife was taken
to hospital with liver failure, the 27-year-old Australian had to
become 'mum' to his two infant sons.
After realising how hard full-time mothers have it, Kearns took to Facebook to document his disastrous attempts at single parenthood in a post that has now gone viral.
"It all started yesterday," begins Kearns's social media post, "when I had to rush out of work. Because I'm a dad - and dads get respite for 40+ hours per week under the socially acceptable proviso of 'supporting the family' - while mum continues doing what women seem to so effortlessly do. 'My liver has failed,' read the text message from Sarah. And that's when I became the mum.
"It's now been 24 hours..."
After realising how hard full-time mothers have it, Kearns took to Facebook to document his disastrous attempts at single parenthood in a post that has now gone viral.
"It all started yesterday," begins Kearns's social media post, "when I had to rush out of work. Because I'm a dad - and dads get respite for 40+ hours per week under the socially acceptable proviso of 'supporting the family' - while mum continues doing what women seem to so effortlessly do. 'My liver has failed,' read the text message from Sarah. And that's when I became the mum.
"It's now been 24 hours..."
Kearns proceeds to reveal how
exhausting he found just one night alone with his children and how Knox,
two, and Finn, six months, managed to break his spirit in just over 12
hours.
"As the night rolls on, my patience wears thin," writes Kearns, detailing how he fed his two-year-old instant noodles and sat him in front of the television. "I reduced myself to keeping Knox quiet by allowing him to place stickers on my (very hairy) legs. He was being quiet - 'It's okay, I can shave them off in the morning,' was the thought - 'Just don't wake Finn'."
"As the night rolls on, my patience wears thin," writes Kearns, detailing how he fed his two-year-old instant noodles and sat him in front of the television. "I reduced myself to keeping Knox quiet by allowing him to place stickers on my (very hairy) legs. He was being quiet - 'It's okay, I can shave them off in the morning,' was the thought - 'Just don't wake Finn'."
Kearns then describes how volatile his six-month old baby son is.
"It's amazing how babies sleep the way they do. When you change and finish feeding them, and you gently pick him up to burp him, and he burps, and you rub his back to make him comfortable. And his eyelids become heavy, and he breathes heavily through his nose as the comforting warmth becomes too much for him to be able to keep his eyes open. It's really beautiful.
"Right up until the part where he f**king screams from the high heavens," Kearns hastens to add, "as if I've thrown him at a wall by his legs!"
"It's amazing how babies sleep the way they do. When you change and finish feeding them, and you gently pick him up to burp him, and he burps, and you rub his back to make him comfortable. And his eyelids become heavy, and he breathes heavily through his nose as the comforting warmth becomes too much for him to be able to keep his eyes open. It's really beautiful.
"Right up until the part where he f**king screams from the high heavens," Kearns hastens to add, "as if I've thrown him at a wall by his legs!"
