Kate Douglas was having one of those days: Her 2-year-old son, Fraser, dumped two gallons of water on the carpet, decorated the walls with red permanent marker, refused clothing and added paint to the fish tank. And if that wasn’t enough to deal with, Fraser’s older brother, Spencer, 5, was having chronic meltdowns. “Spencer was feeling very fragile and needed constant reassuring and cuddles,” the stay-at-home mom from Newcastle, Australia, tells Us Weekly.
Later that afternoon, at the doctor’s office, the boys crawled under and over chairs, bickered over the waiting room toys and wrestled as judgmental parents looked on. “People were glaring at us,” says Douglas. “But there was nothing I could do to get them to stop. When we were leaving, the receptionist said, ‘Whoa, you have your hands full!’”
“I felt so defeated,” the 30-year-old tells Us, adding: “This wasn’t just one off day. This is every day.”
Kate’s husband, Scott Douglas, found the perfect way to lift her spirits: He wrote a Facebook ode to the stay-at-home mom that went quickly viral after popular blogger Constance Hall shared the post to her Facebook page on Monday, October 17.
“Even though today was hard and you feel unappreciated or unsure you made a difference in their lives, this is how your day really went,” the production supervisor, 30, wrote. “Your sons woke from their nice warm beds that have been lovingly washed and made by you. They ate breakfast that was organized a week ago when you wrote out the shopping list. You packed a lunch box for one to go to daycare … whilst balancing another on your leg, arm, shoulders.”
He continued: “You dropped Spencer off at daycare where you sat for an hour comforting him because he was having a bad day, letting him know mum will always be there. You returned home where you spent a day with a 2 year old, holding conversations and toilet training, teaching him how to make his way from toddler to a big boy.” While Fraser napped, Scott noted that Kate spent her “limited time” doing housework.
“When you see a bad day, I see an amazing woman who never calls in sick, never quits, never turns her back on the hard days and who has the power to go to bed knowing it will all happen again tomorrow,” Scott gushed. “You are an amazing and fabulous mother.”
His online tribute received more than 50,000 likes and nearly 4,000 comments. “Tears flowing from reading this. I’ve had one of those days today,” wrote one mom, while another mused, “I so wish I’d read something like this when kids were small … I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have doubted my worth as much.”
Scott tells Us he is in awe of everything Kate does for the family. “When I’m at work … I don’t have to keep a constant eye on people doing things such as throwing a bunch of bananas in the toilet. Kate is dealing with 2- and 5-year-old problems … They can’t make decisions, they can’t be left alone or unsupervised,” he says. “Her day can throw any number of problems at her without any warning, and no developed team of adults around for her to use as backup.”
But Kate wouldn’t have it any other way. “I get to see my boys doing things for the first time, I get a million cuddles every day, even if that comes with a big snotty kiss,” she tells Us. “I get the most random ‘I love you’s,’ and I get that beautiful connection that grows strong every day.”
