The image was shared by the husband (under the username xdozex) in a post that received 101,000 upvotes and over 7,200 comments.

The picture, titled “My wife just went back to work and thinks I’m an idiot,” shows a can of baked beans and a can of corn beside two small food trays each with handwritten paper notes in each compartment of the tray, outlining what food should be placed where.

The trays appear to be for the couple’s two children, who aren’t served the same food due to “different allergies,” the original poster said in a later comment.

According to 2019 U.S. Census data, there are 191,000 stay-at-home dads in the country. However, the National At-Home Dad Network, a nonprofit, says that figure is among the most inaccurate as it does not account for the fathers working from home, either full-time or part-time.

It’s unclear how many men have become full-time parents during the pandemic. However, a long-term trend has shown a rise in stay-at-home fathers, CNBC reported in May 2021.

Scott Melzer, professor of sociology and chair of women’s, gender and sexuality studies at Albion College, told CNBC at the time: “If we look at public polling data, it’s absolutely clear that men’s hours of child care and housework have increased quite a bit over the last several decades.”

The latest Reddit post sparked debate among users, with many amused by the wife’s joke, and some even stating it was nice of her to leave such detailed instructions.

In a comment that received 25,600 upvotes, user zombietampons wrote: “I can already hear it, ‘That’s not how Mommy does it’.”

In a comment that got 20,500 upvotes, user gopackgo_esq shared that their wife “tried the same thing” with them. “Little did she know, my kids like actual food way more than paper with some words written on it.”

In a later comment that received 12,700 upvotes, the original poster revealed that the meal preparation went “pretty smoothly,” but added he apparently “had the temperature wrong for some of the food.”

Al_E_Borland replied: “So what you’re saying is, her notes weren’t detailed enough,” in a comment that got 14,000 upvotes.

User techieman33 said: “According to her notes the vegetables and rice in the pink tray were the only things that needed to be warmed up. I have to assume that means the rest of it can be served as is,” in a comment that got 2,000 votes.

CashCow4u wrote: “She doesn’t think you’re an idiot, but that was genius. She knows kids can be tough customers when it comes to food - was sparing you the utter frustration of mealtime tantrums, and herself the resulting barrage of questions…,” in a comment that got 610 upvotes.

Nice-Violinist-6395 agreed, noting that “while OP humorously interpreted this as ‘my wife thinks I’m an idiot’ — You could also interpret it as “my wife cares about me so much that she wants to make my life as easy as possible! It’s also very likely that she is projecting her anxiety about going back to work…,” in a comment that got 490 upvotes.

Some were in stitches initially thinking the notes were left for the husband’s meals, such as user biznatch11 who wrote: “Ok but honestly I was most of the way through reading the first plate before I realized this must be for OP’s kids not for OP himself,” in a comment that got 1,400 upvotes.

LonelyLoser24 agreed, stating: “Same haha I was like that guy has some very weird taste like does it really have to be Dino chicken nuggets,” in a comment that got 285 upvotes.

GrouchyYT chimed in, stating: “I think it was nice of her to map out your lunch and dinner for you, but you have some weird a** taste my guy,” in a comment that got 3,100 upvotes.