Grown Son Realizes His Dad’s Long Work Hours Was Just Him Running Away From His Parental Responsibilities

In a recent TikTok, one grown son, Dillon, realizes something monumental about his dad. Now a father himself, he is seeing parents through a different lens, offering support and empathy for his mom while questioning some of the motives of his dad.

For many Gen X and millennial kids, their boomer dads were not around a lot when they were young. For the most part, they assumed that their dads were grinding it out at work until the late hours, providing for the family while our moms stayed home to take care of the kids. Even if that’s true, did it have to be that way? Who was really working the hardest in those ’80s and ’90s family structures?

Dillon explained that now that he’s a dad himself, working is a breeze compared to being at home with the kids.

“I used to think my dad was this great family sacrificer, waking up at 4 and not coming home till 7:30 p.m., grinding for his family. Rough hands and all,” he began.

“And then you become a dad yourself you grow up and realize this dude was just running away for like 15 hours a day and that going to work is extremely f*cking easy compared to what’s going on in even 24 hours of a mother’s world.”

He goes on, “You just leave and go hang out with people who know how to use the restroom, who don’t sh*t their pants every couple hours, and scream at you, throw toys everywhere, pick them up, throw them back again.”

“It’s actually easier to make a million dollars than it is to just mother for like 72 hours straight. I’ve been home for 1.5 days for this Thanksgiving thing, and I’m f*cking exhausted way harder than waking up before working out and working for 15 hours, tell you that much.”

Dillion’s comments section affirmed his sentiment, with several moms thanking him for recognizing the invisible labor of moms.

“Working outside the home is WAY easier,” one user said.

“I wish my husband would realize this,” another said.

The OP replied, “Have him take over for a weekend 😭”

Another said, “I told my husband a good provider does not equal a good dad (we were talking about our dads).”

“Former corporate VP, now SAHM.. not even close. Taking a 💩 in private is so underrated 🥲” another mom said.

One TikTok user recalled, “That was my Dad. Hardly ever saw him. My mom dealt with us all the time non stop. Definitely did a number on her. A SAHM is the hardest job out there.”

Dillion responded, “To anyone reading this my dad and mom were both awesome, and my dad was an actual hero to us all. But momming is a war like no other.”