by Melissa Willets posted in Parenting

Each night around 6:00, here is the text exchange that happens between my husband and me, as he commutes home from work on the bus:
Me: Where r u"
Him: 30 mins out
Me: WTF" No!!!!
Him: Almost there to rescue u.
Me: But u left 12 hrs ago! Dying.
Him: Love u
That's when I don't answer my amazing, patient, kind, hard-working husband, because I'm afraid I'll text him back with words I'll regret, like, "I hate u."
I don't really hate him. I just hate this. Waiting. Every night. Counting the moments until I hear his car in the driveway, and finally, he is home to help me do something, anything! And I can talk to someone about topics other than who my favorite Disney princess is, or what some weird butt itch bothering my 3-year-old might be.
Any mom (or parent) who stays home with kids knows this feeling. How after about noon, the hours start to stretch out looooonger. It's as if 4 o'clock is actually tomorrow. By dinnertime, you are at your wit's end. No! Your wit ended somewhere between your toddler peeing on the floor, again, and your older child deciding to conduct an impromptu science experiment in the bathroom sink.
Now, you've prepared one, two or maybe more dinners for your kids, cleaned up, bathed them, and changed them into their pajamas. You commence checking out the window every 3 minutes for a glimpse of your husband's car driving up the street.

That's when, inevitably, he lets you know he's stuck...