Dad says his blood boils after 10 minutes with his kids, then critics dig up what he’s posted before

A working father sparked widespread backlash after admitting online that spending time with his children quickly fills him with anger. The comments drew intense scrutiny once users began resurfacing his older posts about why he wanted to become a parent at all. The situation drew attention after coverage by the Daily Dot, which identified the posts that ignited the controversy.

Justin Murphy, a writer and creative director for a blockchain company, posted a long thread questioning whether he was a “monster” for how he feels about parenting. The thread described what he called a “picturesque” life following the holidays. Despite feeling rested, he admitted he could not enjoy simple activities like playing catch with his four-year-old son.

Murphy wrote that while his love for his children felt genuine, being around them for more than about 10 minutes made his “blood start to boil.” He said the ideal amount of time he wanted to spend actively playing with his children totaled only 70 to 140 minutes per week. Murphy described repeatedly turning down his son’s requests to play, and when he finally agreed, said he spent the entire time wishing he were inside drinking coffee and working instead.

The backlash quickly turned personal

Public reaction was swift. Many users criticized what they saw as a double standard, arguing that mothers would face far harsher judgment for expressing similar feelings. Others focused on Murphy’s framing, accusing him of centering his own productivity and comfort over basic parental responsibilities. Some also noted the timing of the confession, coming just after the holidays, when family expectations tend to be heightened, similar to other post-holiday reckonings such as when Christmas gifts that looked great online ended up flooding thrift stores only leave customers disappointed.

The controversy deepened when users began resurfacing Murphy’s earlier posts. In a 2020 statement, he wrote that he wanted to have children partly for “pro-social cover,” arguing that a man driven by money is viewed more favorably by society if he is also a father.

Critics seized on the post as evidence that his approach to parenting was transactional rather than emotional, and some connected it to broader concerns about how adults model priorities for younger generations, a theme that has come up in discussions about education and attention spans as well, where a simple misspelled word opened a new conversation.

Additional posts added fuel to the backlash. Users highlighted a comment made one day before his viral confession in which Murphy claimed women had become less happy since liberation. In another, he mentioned “crunching the numbers” instead of spending time with his son, reinforcing accusations that work and ambition consistently took priority over family life.

Murphy addressed the criticism the following day acknowledging that some of it was “fair” and “illuminating.” He summarized what he saw as the main themes of the response, including suggestions that he had a dopamine addiction, that he should wake up earlier to spend time with his family, and that he should stop focusing on his feelings altogether.