Mom Gets Real on Shared Parenting Roles and Why Her Husband Isn’t a Babysitter

Becoming a parent is one of life’s most beautiful blessings. As soon as you and your partner go from a couple sans kids to a parenting dynamic duo, your relationship will drastically change.

But change doesn’t have to be bad. Once you and your significant other put a few ground rules on the table, it becomes much easier to navigate the whole parenting thing.

Angel, a mom and blogger behind the popular site The Bluegrass Mom, has a message on the importance of split parenting roles. In a now viral Facebook post, the Kentucky mama shared a powerful snapshot, giving a glimpse into what everyday life looks like for herself, her husband and their kids.

“People are shocked to hear that my husband does night feedings and lets me sleep. They think it’s so sweet that he ‘lets me’ go to coffee shop sans kids for an hour to work. And they can’t believe that he ‘watches’ the kids while I go for a long run to unwind at the end of the day,” she says.

Angel is proud of the way she and her husband have mastered the art of parenting. While some pairs struggle to set in place an even split in shared responsibilities—with many of the “nurturing” tasks so often falling on the mother—that’s not the case for these two.

“My husband does not babysit our kids. He is a parent. He’s in this thing called fatherhood,” she says.

“He’s not watching it play out, but an active participant in raising his kids. From the piggyback rides to handling the tantrums, he’s there—showing my kids what it means to be a father, husband and a man, and I couldn’t be happier… and more rested because of him,” Angel gushes.

When partners raise a kid together, it should always be a two-person job. Couples who learn to depend on each other make their relationship with one another—and their baby—stronger. And, for an added incentive, experts even say couples who divy up the childcare chores tend to have a better sex life.