Working from home hasn’t been easy for any of us, but those who are parents are experiencing an entirely new level of difficulty. Some people, however, think that one man has gone way, way overboard in his desire to have the perfect working conditions at home. According to some users on Reddit, the dad is absolutely out of line for trying to make his wife and twin toddlers stay “100% silent” during the workday. Come on, have you ever spent five minutes with two toddlers cooped up inside? But try telling that to this guy: “I work very hard and I feel like I deserve to have my feelings considered,” he wrote in his post.
The dad explained that he's been having a hard time working from their small apartment.
No matter how much he asks, it seems like he can’t get his family to pipe down.
“It has been slowly pissing me off because I am working hours and I hear noises such as my wife talking, watching tv kids playing from the other room,” he wrote in the Am I the A–hole forum.
According to him, he’s been “VERY patient” with his family while they get used to this new working arrangement.
He’s told them he needs “100% silence” to work several times, but “even if they are trying to be 'quiet' I still hear some noises (kids, walking around, making food, cleaning etc.),” he wrote.
Finally, he got fed up and told off his wife.
“I’m the one working in this family and paying for everything,” he wrote. “The least they can give me is peace and quiet while I do my job.”
In his opinion, his wife is a stay-at-home mom “and it’s her job to be silent and shut the kids up.”
If he can’t have silence then he might lose his job.
“My wife on the other hand doesn’t appreciate any of it,” he continued. “When I wasn’t working from home she would ask me to do chores after work and take care of the kids when I am obviously very tired needing to wind down and relax for the night.”
And can you even imagine the nerve of his wife, who asked him to help around the house during the weekend?
If he had his way, he would remind her that as a SAHM it’s her job to handle the housework, but she “refuses” to listen because “it’s my kids and my home too."
“It hurts that she doesn’t appreciate how hard I work or my feelings,” he added. Even though, in his opinion, he does his fair share by keeping a roof over their heads.
“But despite me voicing my feelings she not only has the nerve to disturb my work but also expects me to work more afterwards,” he complained.
His wife is furious “and refuses to back down.”
“The worst part? She claimed that I don't appreciate her,” he wrote. He "honestly" wanted to know if he was in the wrong.
In short — yes, at least according to many online. Most people did not see his point at all.
"You sound like you don’t appreciate your wife at all," one commenter wrote in. "Remember that you get breaks [from] your paid work; your wife gets none from her unpaid work. What kind of AH expects complete silence from toddlers? Why can’t you invest in noise-canceling headphones?"
"YTA I highly doubt your workplace is 100% quiet. None of the offices I've worked at are," someone else pointed out. "You need to reevaluate how you treat your family before you get the silence you crave by being dumped for being a completely abusive a–hole."
A third person was over this dad's bull: "I’m tired. I’m actually tired. I hope OP gets the 100% silence that they want soon — through a divorce."
But somehow, there were a few people who had the dad’s back.
"It’s her job to help figure things out and accommodate for you," one commenter explained. "Most people saying YTA are probably against the whole idea of SHM and gender roles. I suggest you two stop blaming each other and try to keep the noise level down. Maybe sound proof your office or use noise cancelling headphones?"
Someone else thought that both the man and his wife were at fault.
"You for demanding peace and quiet when there's kids who just can't provide that as kids they are. Your wife for not respecting the sharing of responsibilities when you are off work. Taking care of kids and the house may be a full time job but it is [not] as tiring as the regular 40/week hour job. She doesn't seem to be respecting that," the person wrote.
If you really think about it, this dad has the audacity to invade his wife’s workplace and demand that she change everything to suit him. But that’s not being reasonable (or respectful) of the three other people who need to spend all of their time in their apartment too.
But don’t try telling this guy that he’s being the jerk, because as he shows later in the thread, he’s learned nothing from the online backlash he received.
“I don’t deny that it’s hard to care for children,” he wrote. “But I don’t expect her to come help me at my job, because it’s my job. The reverse is true as well. She wanted to be a stay at home mom, so that’s her job, not mine.”
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