I Came Home to Find My Kids Sleeping in the Hallway—and What My Husband Had Done While I Was Away Left Me Fuming

After a weeklong work trip, I came home excited to see my kids—and expecting my husband Mark to be wiped out. Instead, I found our sons asleep on the hallway floor, dirty and tangled in blankets, while the house looked like a junk food tornado hit it.

Mark? He was in the boys’ room—now a full-blown gaming cave—headphones on, lost in his video game. When I confronted him, he shrugged. “They thought it was fun!”

I was furious. The next morning, I treated him the way he’d acted: like a child. I made a chore chart, cut his screen time, served him kiddie meals, and gave him timeouts. He whined, sulked, even threw a tantrum.

Then his mom showed up.

She scolded him like he was ten. He finally apologized. “I get it. I’ll do better.”

I smiled. “Good. The kids need a dad—not another kid.”

And just in case he forgot? The timeout corner was still ready.