Tuesday

When The Mom Is Away...

I am home alone with the kids until Saturday and the Mister Payne household is already kicking into high gear. Yesterday the son took out and the trash and washed the dishes without having to be asked. My daughter has yet to throw a temper tantrum. The downstairs is spotless after a full meal (not takeout). Dinner has been planned for the week and lunch is made for tomorrow. We're talking but it's quiet and I may actually get to bed before midnight for the first time in months. Yesss (in Napoleon Dynamite voice)!

Nothing against my wife, but the kids are way more rowdy when it is the two of us. Maybe they are playing off the two of us? Maybe my wife's energy overpowers my typically mellow disposition? I'm not sure but it happens whenever she goes out of town --- the kids listen and the house runs like a smooth sailing ship.

How about in your house? Do the kids act differently when it is just one or both of you?

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