Working Dad Picks Daughter Up Late at 6:30 PM From Daycare That Closes at 5 PM After His Non-Working Wife Asked Him to Pick Her Up

Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor

Jun 14, 2026 7:45 AM EDT

Why didn't the dad ask the mom to pick up their daughter?

If you are in a dual-income household during the first five years of your children's lives, you understand how difficult scheduling can become. If one of you works at night and the other works during the day, the division of labor within the home couldn't be clearer, but if both of you work full-time 9-5 jobs, you both probably have to cut some corners at work to make sure that you can get your kid to and from childcare every day. If you have a grandparent or a retired family friend who is willing to watch your kids full-time during the day without a strict stop or start time, that's great, but very few daycares operate on such a schedule. They need the kids out by a specific time because the underpaid workers won't be paid for the extra hour they're spending waiting for you to pick up your kids.

Many workplaces will be flexible, allowing you or your spouse to leave early a couple of times a week so you can pick up your kids from daycare on time. Not all workplaces are like that, and sometimes you have to really rush to get your kids from daycare on time. It's stressful for everyone involved.

_Source:_{Brooke Cagle (Unsplash+)}

The dad in this Reddit story was really miffed that his wife asked him to pick up their daughter from daycare, even though he was working that day, and she wasn't. The daycare opens from 8 AM to 5 PM, but parents can pick up their kids until 6 PM due to traffic and other delays.

The mom texted the dad at 4 PM, asking him to pick up their daughter from daycare after work. The dad, however, didn't rebuff this request.

“I was very busy at work so I didn't even get a chance to read the message until I finished at 6PM.”

Once he received the message, the dad was shocked, to say the least, because, according to him, his wife had all the time in the world since she didn't have work that day. She didn't respond to his messages because she was out grocery shopping at 5 PM.

When the dad picked his daughter up from daycare at 6:30, the daycare workers were obviously displeased. Now, he wants to know if he was in the wrong, because he thinks his wife should've assumed that he hadn't seen the message because he didn't respond to her until 6:00.

What do you think? Who messed up here?

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