You’re Nothing but a Parasite’: My Husband Demanded I Get a Job & Care for 3 Kids – Until I Turned the Tables on Him
Being a stay-at-home mom isn’t the “easy life” my husband Derek thought it was—until I made him live it himself.
I’m Ella, 32, and I’ve spent seven years raising our three kids: Ava, seven, Caleb, four, and Noah, two. For years, Derek acted like my job was nothing—“You just sit at home while I work,” he’d sneer.
That changed last month. He stormed in, yelling, “Either you start bringing in money or I put you on an allowance!” Something in me snapped. I said, “Fine. I’ll get a job—but you take over everything here while I’m gone. Prove it’s easy.”
Derek laughed—but week one, reality hit. Homework undone, walls covered in crayon, Noah in a diaper rash, dinner cold. By week three, the house was chaos. Ava tearfully said, “Daddy doesn’t listen when I need help.”
Derek broke. “I can’t do this anymore,” he admitted.
Meanwhile, my part-time job grew fast. In weeks, I earned more than him, earned promotions, and finally had independence. Derek had no choice but to adjust—real help, not just bragging.
We negotiated a new balance: we share the house, the kids, the work. Slowly, clumsily, Derek learned to help.
No fairy tale moment—just two people learning what partnership really means, one honest day at a time.
