To make matters so much worse, their poor little boy is completely aware of how his parents feel!
Near delirious with exhaustion, you turn to your partner in abject horror as the baby enters the third consecutive hour of screaming.
Without a doubt, this is the moment it first hits you, the sinking feeling of 'why on earth did we do this?'
But while regretting having kids is an unofficial parenting milestone, it's also temporary, instantly replaced by overwhelming feelings of love and protection.
But not for Sam...
The father-of-one took to Twitter to share with the world that he “regretted” having his son….and apparently so does his wife.
“Though I love my son, I now: A. know myself well enough, and B. know the challenges of parenting well enough, to say that having a kid is probably my biggest life regret,” the UK dad wrote in the since-deleted Tweet.
"Wife concurs."
“I know you love me, but having a kid is a lot of work"
To make matters worse, the Sam’s son is apparently “fully aware” of the fact that his parents regret having him.
“I know you love me, but having a kid is a lot of work,” he apparently told his regretful father.
This did little to impress social media users, who quickly jumped on Twitter to slam the dad for his “twisted” views.
“His kid will always have in the back of his mind that his dad regrets having a child and I can't imagine how that would feel,” one dad wrote.
"You don't have to love being a parent - but you also don't have to inflict that kind of pain,” another added.
"I didn't care for kids before I had mine, but as a dad-of-one, I can unequivocally say he's my entire life and I could not imagine things without him," a dad said.
The tweet angered a lot of parents online. Source: Twitter
"I feel so bad for this man's son"
Then one dad jumped on with a comment that really put things into perspective.
The dad, who has three kids, was told just two months ago that he only has five years left to live.
"Every day is precious with my kids," he said.
"So this upset me. I feel so bad for this man's son."
Another father felt physically ill at Sam's admission.
"This was sickening to read, my wife and I just got certified to foster-adopt," another man added.
"If he doesn't want his kid, I know people who would."
The little boy is apparently OK with the fact his parents regret having him. Source: Twitter
"I love my kid and he knows he's loved"
But Sam didn’t back down, returning to Twitter to defend himself against the barrage of hate.
In a series of tweets he has since removed, the dad blamed his regrets on the fact that “nobody prepares you" for the difficulties of raising children.
"I love my kid and he knows he's loved," he said.
"I spend hours with him every day playing, going to parks, watching shows... but all things considered, being childless would be simpler."
He finished his response by encouraging other parents who feel the same to share their stories to prevent this subject from becoming taboo.
This dad was particularly disgusted by Sam's revelation. Source: Twitter
Others admired his honesty
Surprisingly, it worked – with parents jumping online to share their support for Sam's call to action.
“It's a completely acceptable truth," one parent said.
"If more parents spoke out about their regrets, people on the fence would chose wisely so not to have kids they also ended up regretting."
"This guy is getting torn to shreds but I bet a lot of parents feel the same in they were being honest," another added.
"How dare that man express his true feelings?"
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