‘You Lazybones!’ Husband Blames New Mom, Soon He Has to Take Her Place for a Week – Story of the Day

When Mary and Hugh unexpectedly discover they're going to have a baby, Hugh assures his wife that caring for a child won't be so difficult. Despite Mary's obvious fatigue, Hugh thinks childcare is easy until the day he finds Mary unconscious.

Mary and Hugh both grinned as they exited the nightclub. The married couple had their arms around each other but still swayed a little as they walked home.

"That was great," Mary exclaimed. "The DJ was fire!"

"The manager told me she's going to be there again next week. We've got to go."

"Absolutely." Mary yawned and checked her watch. "Yikes, it's already three. I'm babysitting for Samantha in five hours time."

Hugh leaned over to kiss Mary's cheek. "Catch a few hours of sleep, and you'll be fine. The kid is one year old, right? It won't be that much trouble."

A few hours into her babysitting job, Mary decided Hugh obviously knew nothing about children. Little James was forever babbling and seemed to shriek and cry for no reason at all. When he wasn't screaming, sleeping, or needing a diaper change, he was escaping from her to cause chaos.

At one point, Mary found him chewing the TV remote. He shrieked when she took it away, then disappeared when her back was turned. A moment later, she caught him drooling into her shoe.

"I'm never having children," she told Hugh when she arrived home that evening. "After the day I've had, I'm not even sure I want to take care of a plant."

Hugh chuckled.

"You won't hear any complaints from me, babe. I've never felt any desire to parent."

The couple curled up together on the couch. A few hours later, a friend called to tell them about a party downtown, and the pair went out to have fun. There was no way they could've known their lives were about to change forever.

Mary wiped her mouth and leaned against the bath. They'd left the party early because she wasn't feeling well. She'd gone to bed only to wake up a few hours later feeling nauseous. She'd been vomiting ever since.

Hugh peeped into the bathroom and brought with him an overwhelming reek of grease and meat.

"Do you want to try eating something, babe? There's toast and I'm frying bacon."

"Yeah, I can smell it." Mary fought back a fresh wave of nausea.

"There's also sausage and eggs, but I'll fry them in the bacon grease, just like you like it."

At that moment, Mary couldn't imagine anything worse to eat. She dove for the toilet as her stomach made it clear that it wouldn't tolerate even the thought of rich foods.

When Hugh came home from work that evening, he found his wife crying in the bathroom. When he asked her what was wrong, she held up two pregnancy tests.

"Oh, God." Hugh slumped against the wall. "This is... not great, but we'll handle it. We'll figure it out, Mary. We'll—"

"Be the worst parents ever!" Mary wailed.

Hugh went to his wife and put his arms around her. "Don't say that, babe. There are so many kids out there that end up in foster homes because their parents maltreat them. At the very least, we'll be better parents than them."

"Oh yeah, Hugh, because being better parents than those who are neglectful and abusive is totally the standard to aspire to!" Mary bawled.

"I didn't mean it like that." Hugh frowned.

"This is a shock, but we'll make it work. It doesn't have to be such a big deal."

It wasn't that simple, of course. When Mary and Hugh returned home with their son, Luke, a few months later, everything changed. Although the couple was used to late-night parties, they were also used to catching up on sleep whenever they needed.

Initially, Mary resented the baby's regular need to be fed, changed, and burped. She struggled to keep up with her daily routine and soon abandoned all efforts to visit her friends or accompany Hugh to parties. Being a mom was exhausting, and she used her spare time to rest.

Hugh went to pick up his son and found Mary sprawled across the floor. He rushed to her side but couldn't wake her.

Hugh also struggled to adapt, but for vastly different reasons. Mary never wanted to go out with him anymore. When they spent time together in the evenings, she wasn't the vibrant woman he fell in love with. Instead, she stared at him with dull eyes and often didn't seem to pay attention to what he said.

Yet the moment Luke started crying, she leaped to attention and rushed to care for him. It roused angry, bitter feelings in Hugh's chest. He knew babies needed regular care, but this was ridiculous! He missed his wife, and a few days later, he had the perfect opportunity to get her back.

"Get out your best dress, babe," Hugh said when he arrived home that evening.

"The company is hosting a party at our favorite bar and you absolutely need to join me."

Mary gave him a blank look. "You're kidding, right? I'm exhausted."

Hugh shook his head. He took in his wife's disheveled hair, stained clothes, and dark bags under her eyes. "You have to come, and I think it will do you good to get out. I'll call the babysitter while you get ready."

Mary sighed, but once she'd showered and put makeup on, she began feeling Hugh was right. She missed her old life of partying until the early morning with him, and it would be great to have a break to do something fun.

She put on her favorite dress and styled her hair. She was almost ready when Hugh entered the bathroom with bad news.

"The babysitter can't make it," Hugh said. "But I have a plan: we'll take Luke with us."

Mary smiled at him. "Okay. Why don't you pack up his things? I'm nearly ready."

Mary and Hugh set off for the party with Luke, and Mary soon realized what a big mistake she'd made. Hugh's coworkers all admired little Luke when they first arrived, but they were soon distracted by drinking and dancing.

Mary watched them laughing and shouting as they steadily became more intoxicated. They stumbled through dance steps and sang along tunelessly to popular songs.

"Wow," Mary muttered as she soothed Luke. "Is that what I looked like all those nights Hugh and I went out? I can't believe I was ever so vapid."

She dragged Hugh away from the party soon afterward and insisted they go home, reminding him that she was tired. He scowled at her, but it wasn't until they got home that he released the full force of his anger.

"What is wrong with you?" Hugh yelled. "Why do you have to ruin everyone's fun?"

"It's hard work looking after a baby and keeping up with the chores, Hugh. I'm hardly getting any sleep, and the only time I have to rest is when Luke is sleeping."

"You lazybones!" Hugh scoffed. "Looking after a kid is nothing, and anyone with eyes can see you haven't bothered to do much housework either. All you do is lie on the couch and complain."

Mary stared at Hugh in shock. He really had no idea how hard she worked every day. She decided then that it was past time her husband realized that caring for a child wasn't as easy as he thought.

When Hugh arrived home from work the next day, Mary was not lying on the couch. She wasn't in the kitchen either. Hugh called her name, but the only answer he received was a cry from Luke. Mary didn't appear then either.

"Mary?" Hugh peeked into the bedroom, but she wasn't there either.

Luke was still crying. Hugh went to pick up his son and found Mary sprawled across the floor. He rushed to her side but couldn't wake her.

"No, no, no." Hugh pulled out his phone and dialed 911. "Please help me," he begged the operator. "My wife is unconscious and I don't know what's wrong with her."

An ambulance rushed Mary to the hospital. Hugh rocked Luke in his arms as he paced in the waiting room. Doctors and nurses rushed along the corridor outside, but it was hours before somebody brought him news about Mary.

Hugh was shocked to hear that Mary's health problems stemmed from exhaustion. He was allowed to visit her for a while, and she told him that the doctor had put her on bed rest for a week.

When the hospital released Mary, Hugh took her straight to a rest home. He booked her in for the next few days so she could recover.

"What about Luke?" Mary asked.

"I'll call the babysitter," Hugh replied.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of everything."

However, the babysitter was sick and unable to care for Luke that week. He ended the call with a sigh and looked down at Luke, who was sleeping peacefully in his crib.

"I'll just look after you myself," he whispered to the baby. "After all, how hard can it be?"

Hugh set up a corner in the lounge where he could work from home. He worked out a timetable for feeding and changing Luke but soon discovered that babies only stick to their own schedules.

He fed and changed Luke just before work, but the child started crying before being due for another feeding. Hugh set him down in his playpen to amuse himself, but Luke kept crying. Hugh tried burping him, then he checked his diaper and tried feeding him again, but nothing satisfied the child.

"What do you want, little man?" Hugh pleaded with Luke. "I'm trying to work, and I've gotten nothing done because of you."

Luke reached out and tugged Hugh's beard. When Hugh cried out, the baby started laughing.

"Pulling my beard is not a game!" Hugh fetched a toy and placed it in the pen with his son. "Play with that and let daddy do his work, okay?"

By evening the next day, Hugh was exhausted. He'd now spent two days trying to satisfy Luke's needs and keep up with his work while the child cried for him. He'd barely slept, and he knew he wouldn't be able to maintain this routine anymore.

Hugh called his office, and they let him take the rest of the week off. Once he'd hung up, he slumped on the couch and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Is this what Mary had to deal with every day?" he said.

To answer his question, Luke started crying in the nursery. Hugh slumped forward. He felt like crying too, or running out the door and never coming back. Instead, he went to check on his son.

"I don't know why I ever thought it was easy to care for a child."

Hugh reached into the crib to check Luke's diaper. "You know what, Lukie? I think your mommy must be a superhero. I don't know how she kept this up so long."

When Mary returned that Saturday, she found her home in chaos. Dirty clothes lay strewn across the floor, and the dishes overflowed in the sink. The trash hadn't been taken out yet, and a faint smell of diapers filled the sitting room.

"You're finally home!" Hugh fell to his knees in front of Mary and hugged her legs. "I'm so sorry I ever said you were lazy. You have the toughest job in the world."

Mary rubbed Hugh's back and smiled to herself. It looked like her plan had worked perfectly. Her husband had learned that caring for a baby was anything but easy.

"It worked perfectly," Mary said when she called her friend that evening. "I had the best rest of my life, and Hugh learned that parenting is hard work. Honestly, I think I may need to deceive Hugh like this more often!"

There was a loud bang behind her then. Mary spun around and found Hugh on the floor. He'd clearly stumbled in through the door and looked at her with a wounded expression. Mary realized he'd heard everything.

"I can explain, baby," Mary said.

Hugh raised his hand.

"No, I get it. This week really did show me how wrong I was to think childcare was easy. I'm not happy that you tricked me, but I see now that you were desperate."

"There's just one thing I must know," Hugh continued. "How did you pull this off?"

Mary admitted that she'd arranged everything with the help of her doctor friend. She apologized to Hugh, and the couple made peace with each other. They lived happily after that and shared their parenting duties more evenly.

What can we learn from this story?

• Don't take others for granted. Hugh thought Mary had it easy until he experienced firsthand how tough it was for her to care for the home and their baby.
• Caring for a baby is very demanding. Babies have a lot of needs that must be met, while lack of sleep and stress place enormous strain on the body.

Share this story with your friends. It might brighten their day and inspire them.

If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a young man who refuses to get a job until the day his hardworking mom is rushed to the ICU.

This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone’s life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com