They say you can never truly understand what someone is going through until you walk a mile in their shoes. Well, one Minnesota dad got a crash course in what it’s like being a mom – and after over a week of walking in his wife’s shoes, he took to Instagram to admit that that ish is hard and acknowledged that he could be doing a better job of supporting her as she cares for their three children.
Former NFL player Cedric Thompson Jr. spent eight days alone with his daughters, ages 2, 5 and 7, while his wife took a trip to the Philippines to visit family. He shared video of himself giving them meals, taking them to doctor’s appointments and extracurricular activities. But even though his wife, Charlotte, left a spreadsheet to help keep him organized, he admitted that he had no idea how tired he would be from it all.
“I was prepared for the cleaning, lodging back and forth, the unexpected sickness, the feeding, the sleeping,” he said in the video. “But one thing I was not prepared for was the mental load. I had no idea it felt like this.”
Thompson went on to say that staying on top of daily tasks and planning for things that need to be done in the future was so mentally draining that he didn’t even have the energy to take care of himself at all. Moms, before you fall out of your seat laughing, Thompson says that taking care of the kids by himself has given him “so much empathy” for his wife. He goes on to say in the video that the experience has opened his eyes and made him ask himself what he can do to help out more around the house.
“How can I step up the way that my wife needs me to instead of doing things that I think are helping?” he asked.
It probably took a lot for Thompson to admit what he learned from his solo parenting experience to his 625,000 followers, and they were not shy about letting them know how felt about his confession.
Some gave him praise, appreciating Thompson for sharing his enlightenment.
“Love this. ❤️ If only all dads had this perspective,” wrote someone in the comment section.
But others were less than impressed.
Why anyone is giving this man flowers is beyond me… he’s NOT a single parent. He’s taking care of HIS OWN children! They have 3 kids and he’s only NOW seeing how much she has to do?! Smfh. No,” wrote another commenter.
In the end, Thompson says he wants to do everything he can to help lighten his wife’s load.
“Now I know that I can’t always take the mental load away, but I can definitely make it lighter.” he said in his video.