Stay-at-home mom’s loving tribute from husband cheered by mothers around the world
She was having a horrible day, one of those wish-I-could-go-back-to-bed-days.
Except that, as a busy, stay-at-home mom of two rambunctious little boys, rest is rarely an option for Kate Douglas of Newcastle, Australia.
“I felt so defeated,” Douglas, 30, told Us Weekly. “This wasn’t just one off day. This is every day.”
Here’s just a taste of what made that day so chaotic: The 2-year-old wrote on the walls with permanent red marker and poured two gallons of water on the carpet. The 5-year-old was in full meltdown mode needing “constant reassuring and cuddles.”
When the boys acted up at the doctor’s office, the receptionist looked at Douglas and said, “Whoa, you have your hands full!’”
Her husband, Scott, saw her stress that day and wrote her a letter that he posted Monday to Facebook and now has women around the world wishing they had a husband like him.
“Even though today was hard and you feel unappreciated or unsure you made a difference in their lives, this is how your day really went,” he wrote.
“Your sons woke from their nice warm beds that have been lovingly washed and made by you. They ate breakfast that was organized a week ago when you wrote out the shopping list. You packed a lunch box for one to go to daycare … whilst balancing another on your leg, arm, shoulders.”
He wrote how Kate had to sit with 5-year-old Spencer at daycare to comfort him on the bad day he was having — then had to go home and work on toilet-training with Spencer’s little brother, Fraser.
“When you see a bad day, I see an amazing woman who never calls in sick, never quits, never turns her back on the hard days and who has the power to go to bed knowing it will all happen again tomorrow,” he wrote.
“You are an amazing and fabulous mother.”
His words went viral when Australian mommy blogger Constance Hall posted them to her Facebook page on Tuesday, attracting more than 23,000 likes, loves and wows.
One mom wrote: “Wow. Just wow. Needed to read this today. There are times when you feel as if your worth isn't as much as those who put on a suit and tie. When you give your kids your all and it feels like it's not enough nor appreciated and you wonder why you keep at it. Thanks random husband for these words, they may be directed to your wife, but I'll pretend they're for all of us who need them.”
This story was originally published October 21, 2016 at 8:16 AM with the headline "Stay-at-home mom’s loving tribute from husband cheered by mothers around the world."