The birth of a baby is an exciting time for parents, but can also be overwhelming.
It is customary in many circles for friends and family to help out with dinner for the first week following the baby’s arrival.
One Philadelphia couple defied the status quo, and let those close to them know exactly what they wanted during such challenging times.
Jim Burns and his wife, Alex, are expecting the birth of their first child, which would typically attract individuals who want to welcome the little one into the world.
Some may be intimidated, though, by the couple’s precise instructions for when they plan on paying full attention to their new bundle of joy.
Yahoo Lifestyle reports:
“A recent post from a Philadelphia couple shared on Meal Train, a “giving” website, has drawn ire for their outlandish requests, including asking neighbors to provide them with meals and to do their chores after the birth of their first-born child.”
Asking for assistance with meals is one thing, but to request others do your daily chores is a little out of the ordinary.
Any parent knows the hardship of maintaining a pristine home and eating a nice home cooked meal during those early months of bringing a new baby into the fold.
Always having a chore half-done and the occasional hodgepodge meal is par for the course in caring for a newborn.
It wasn’t just meals that the Burn’s requested, but 30 very specific meals with recipes attached, such as Paleo egg muffins with thinly sliced cremini mushrooms.
More power to them for trying to stay healthy, but the real test will be when they each have had only 2 hours of sleep a night for a straight week, and breastfeeding has sucked all the calories from your body.
The request for those close by to perform chores was just as specific, listing things such as washing dishes and walking the dog as desired tasks.
Jim Burns wrote on Meal Train, which has since been deleted:
“As the father-to-be, I’m teetering on a fence of emotions. One of the things I’m most afraid of is not getting a great deal of sleep and as a result not being in the best frame of mind to offer my wife the support she needs to recover from the child-birthing process.”
This is a legitimate concern, but also not something that many parents are blessed with avoiding.
New babies mean less sleep in most cases.
Jim adds:
“That’s why I’m putting together this ‘Meal-Train’ or ‘Mental-health check-in train’ or ‘Do you need any help today train. A meal would be awesome. If you feel comfortable reaching out before you arrive to see if we might need anything else — that’d be even more awesome.”
With all the help the couple anticipated would be pouring in, they offer a convenient alternative to leaving meals when they would “prefer no distractions” by placing a large white cooler on the side of the house.
I will give it to the Burns that they have thought of everything, and that they know what they want.
Some people, however, did not see these underlying qualities, and posted a screenshot of the Meal Train account to Twitter, receiving a whirlwind of comments on the list of wishes.
Neighbor Jack Jokinen wrote how he thought the meal-specific dinner requests were “unreasonable.”
pic.twitter.com/BkE2kBuhyJ
— JJ (@JJFromTheBronx) April 18, 2019
After the tweets gained in popularity, Jokinen spoke with the New York Post saying:
“I think it’s way too much and completely out of touch. Maybe there’s some bigger issue that we don’t know about, like a health issue, but in those situations you put that [information] in … it seems like the husband is unprepared and his primary concern is his sleep. There are a lot of ways to make meals very quickly.”
Social media users took it a step further, mocking the couple by saying they were next going to ask who is going to pay for their child’s college.
And if you’re not comfortable with that you can pay for our firstborns college.
— Jason Vahling (@Cardinals11in11) April 19, 2019
The Father-to-be did not find these comments as humorous as the general public and responded:
“I apologize if it was taken the wrong way — and I’m frankly just very surprised and a little disheartened by … the response.”
Apparently the Meal Train post was meant for friends and family, Burns told the Post, adding that “If they are not interested, then they don’t have to check that site or do anything. This is the world we live in.”
This begs the question, why the neighbor who began the Twitter tirade received the Meal Train post when he obviously isn’t that close with the couple.
The requests by the Burns were very specific and asking a bit much of their loved ones, but in the end we hope they adjust smoothly to their new life as a family of three.
Please let us know in the comments section if you have ever had new parents ask for outlandish requests, or have done so yourself.