Dad shares simple ways in which he tries to reduce the mental load for his partner when he is away

Editor's note: This article was originally published on March 27, 2023. It has since been updated.

Having a thoughtful partner does make life a lot easier. They are mindful of their partner's needs and go to any extent to make sure that the person is doing fine. One such dad, @world.shaker, shared on TikTok what he does to reduce the mental load for his partner when he is away. Michael Vaughn starts the video by saying: "Reducing mental load for your partner is not just about when you're in the house it's also when you're out of it."

Vaughn then shares that he is leaving the house for a conference for six days. "That means my partner's getting 100% of the child's responsibilities and the household responsibilities she says she doesn't mind but I know it's a lot," he says in the clip.

He goes on to talk about the list of ways he'll be sharing the childcare and household duties even when away from home. "I vacuumed the house so she can start with clean floors. Washed and folded all the laundry so she can start with no clothes. That did not come out the way I intended. After I put our oldest to bed I'm gonna do the dishes so she can have clean dishes. Since I usually pack our toddler's lunch I prepacked parts of it so it's just grab-and-go in the morning. And since she's gonna have to wrangle both kids in the morning I put together 5 outfits for our toddler," Vaughn says.

Vaughn also explains a hack for parents who are not used to choosing outfits. "For partners who don't usually put together outfits for their kids, it's not that simple. It's not just about what matches or looks nice together. I looked at the weather report to base out these outfits, Wednesday is a light shirt and pants because it's gonna be warm and it's not gonna rain so they'll be out in the playground. Friday will be cold so heavier pants, long sleeve T-shirt, and a sweatshirt," he says in the video.

The dad also went the extra mile to ensure his partner got some rest once he returned from his conference. "And I booked a hotel room for her so she can have some time to herself after I get back," Vaughn explains.

The video gained with about 2.9 million views and 377k likes and is captioned, "Reducing mental load outside the house." Many on the social media platform appreciated the dad for what he did. @dezynw commented, "You need to do dad/household classes and I genuinely mean that." @jm9373 wrote, "I think I just fainted a little bit... the effort, the detail, the awareness with the hotel?!? This is beautiful. To feel loved like this.."

@mcami0803 expressed, "God Bless you!! The thoughtfulness and care brought a literal tear to my eye." @linztomania shared, "I feel like crying, you are such a kind and supportive partner from what I see in your videos. It's beautiful to see." @justine_is_rad commented, "My husband makes our meals before he leaves so I don't even have to think about it but man imma have him do some of this other stuff too."