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Japanese dad reimburses wife for six months’ worth of breast milk, moves her to tears

Casey Baseel Apr 26, 2018
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New father makes mental note of the economic upside of breastfeeding, passes those savings on to his beloved wife.

Last October, Japanese Twitter user Daichichi gave birth to her first child, a healthy baby boy. She made the decision to breastfeed instead of using formula, and since then she’s been supplying her bundle of joy with nourishing mother’s milk.

Last Tuesday marked six months since the baby was born, and while it’s not necessarily a Japanese custom to celebrate half-birthdays, Daichichi’s husband felt a celebration of sorts was in order. But it wasn’t the baby who received a gift from Dad, but Daichichi herself, who shared her story in the following tweet.

あの…
ちょっと…自慢してもいいですか？

息子、今日でハーフバースデーなんです。そしたら、旦那が「半年間ありがとう」って10万円くれたんです。

一年で掛かるミルク代が約14万なので、それを母乳で頑張ってくれてるから、って。…嬉しくて泣きました。 pic.twitter.com/tGnln75SVG

— だいちち(6y) (@dai3278) April 24, 2018

On their son’s half-birthday, Daichichi’s husband gave her an envelope with a written message which read:

“It’s not much, but this is in appreciation for the past six months. Use it however you’d like, and thank you for all your hard work.”

Inside the envelope? 100,000 yen (US$935), to compensate Daichichi for a half-year of breast milk.

▼ Breast milk is the real “white gold”

A husband giving his wife a gift of cash might a little strange, but it turns out that several months ago Daichichi mentioned to her husband that she’d heard babies require about 140,000 yen (US$1,300) in formula during their first year, and facetiously asked if she’d be able to collect that much in payment for her services. But while she’d meant it as a silly joke, her husband thought it over in earnest and came to the decision that she really did deserve to treat herself to something nice in recognition of the loving care she provides their son with (and apparently decided to toss in a bonus, since by his wife’s calculations a half-year’s worth of milk is only worth 70,000 yen).

Daichichi’s tweet was met with a chorus of congratulations for having both a happy baby and a wonderful husband. She herself agreed that she’s been blessed, likening the experience to the mixture of satisfied pride and thankfulness she felt when she received her first paycheck from her first job. And lest you think she’s just selfishly basking in the joy of a windfall, she later expresses her regret at not preparing anything to say thank you to her husband for his parenting contributions thus far, but given the obviously strong emotional bond between the two, odds are the new parents will be finding ways to surprise and delight each other for a long time to come.

Source: Twitter/@dai3278 via Hachima Kiko
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert images: Pakutaso

Follow Casey on Twitter, where since he was formula-raised he’s now wondering if he owes his parents 1,300 bucks.