After a week-long business trip, I returned home to find my sons, Tommy and Alex, asleep on the cold hallway floor. The house was a mess, and my husband, Mark, was missing. Strange noises from the kids’ room led me to discover him gaming in a newly transformed “gamer paradise,” complete with LED lights and a mini-fridge. Furious, I asked, “Why are our children sleeping on the floor?” Mark shrugged, saying, “They thought it was an adventure.”
Determined to teach him a lesson, I treated Mark like a child for the next week—creating a chore chart, cutting his food into fun shapes, and enforcing screen time limits. After days of frustration, he finally apologized.
I delivered one final blow: “I’ve called your mom.” Right on cue, she arrived to set him straight. Mark admitted his mistake, saying, “I was selfish and irresponsible.” He promised to do better, and I knew he’d learned his lesson. If not, that timeout corner was always ready.
