There’s a lot of joy in being a parent, from the moment you find out you’re going to be one, and for the rest of your life.

But the smooth certainly doesn’t come without some rough times too, and there are some days of parenting where you simply feel exhausted, drained, and totally unsupported – even if you partner is truly doing their best.

That’s because being a parent is difficult at times, something that the couple in this story have long discovered.

Read on to find out how one bad day left them both feeling raw.

AITA for finishing snowblowing after my wife got home with the kids?

I am a 40-year-old man with a 37-year-old wife and two sons (twins, both three-years-old).

Recently, I was three quarters of the way through snow blowing our considerably large driveway and sidewalk, when my wife and sons got home.

The boys were in pure toddler form and being a handful.

I stopped what I was doing and helped get them inside and their winter gear off.

Let’s see what happened next.

After that, because I was already covered in snow and soaked, plus the fact that we are anticipating 8″ (3″ had already accumulated), I figured I would finish ASAP.

I went back to it and finished up in about fifteen minutes.

I came back in to the chaos of both both boys wailing bloody murder and my wife on the point of boiling over.

I stripped my winter gear and rushed into the living room to look after the boys so my wife could tap out.

But all was not well between this man and his wife.

As I passed her, she glared at me and has been ever since. I offered to usher the boys up to our family room so she could be alone and start dinner.

She muttered under her breath something about her need for a break “didn’t matter” and cold shouldered me and is freezing me out. I refuse to apologize for something that was not communicated as an issue or expectation.

For some context, I always handle the cold weather chores because of her asthma.

We always split dinner cooking and watching the boys, and I usually cook. We are both highly active engaged parents and are working professionals.

AITA?

It seems like his wife is mad at him for not staying indoors to help with the boys – despite the fact that he did initially come in to help when they returned home.

His wife might’ve been having a hard day with the kids, and seen her husband disappear back out to finish snowblowing whilst she had to battle two wailing toddlers – and that is hard.

But he was working hard too – the pair simply needed to communicate better.

Let’s see what folks on Reddit had to say about this.

This person agreed that, once things had calmed down, the pair needed to talk it out.

While others thought he should give her a little time to relax.

Meanwhile, this Redditor pointed out that this was simply standard parenting exhaustion.

The kids clearly wore their mom down in this scenario and she needed a little help.

But it wasn’t her husband’s fault that he didn’t realise, and instead carried on with a necessary household task.

He can help out now though, and hopefully give her a little time to feel more human.

Parenting sucks sometimes, but together they’ll get through this.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a daughter who invited herself to her parents’ 40th anniversary vacation for all the wrong reasons.