Last night I got a bit annoyed with the wife, the minute I got home, our older daughter was thrown in my arms and I was told to play with her because "she, (my wife), has been looking after them, (the kids), the whole day!".

There is a common misconception amongst mothers, (and probably women in general), that we only play at work, we do nothing but leisurely read books, play games and watch tv.

So let me clear some clouds out for you ladies, I get up before the wife and kids to let the dogs out and to feed them. I get ready for work and at some point my daughter, (the older one), will wake up and I will change her, play with her for a while.
My wife will then wake up and take over while I go to work, the younger one will wake up at about the same time as her mother.

I then work the whole day, I have a one hour lunch break that I don't often take, (but that's my fault I guess).

Finally I get home, look after the kids to 'relive' my wife from the stressful day she had.

We have dinner together, I bath the older one while my wife bath the younger one, and I put her to sleep at about 7:30pm/8:00pm (we try for 7:30 but it does not always happen).

I should also add 2 minor points here, first of all, like most middle class South African families, we have a full time maid to look after a fair amount of the house work. Secondly the older daughter goes to school, (until 3pm).

BTW: Week-ends are pretty much the same, but, instead of work, I have a never ending rule of little jobs to do around the house to keep me busy.

So mothers, do us, fathers, a favour and don't assume you are the only ones with long days, take a few minutes of your busy day to think of how much work we actually do.