After a week away, I came home excited to see my family. But stepping inside, I was shocked to find my boys, Tommy and Alex, sleeping on the hallway floor wrapped in blankets. The house was a mess—pizza boxes, snack wrappers, and soda cans scattered everywhere. But where was my husband, Mark?
I found him in the boys’ room, totally absorbed in a video game, wearing headphones and oblivious to the chaos around him. When I confronted him, he simply said, “The boys thought it was an adventure.” I was furious. Our kids were on the floor while he played games!
The next morning, I decided to treat him like the child he was acting as. I served him Mickey Mouse-shaped pancakes with a sippy cup of coffee and created a chore chart, complete with gold stars for every task. The Wi-Fi was cut off at 9 p.m., and I tucked him into bed with *Goodnight Moon* and a glass of milk.
At first, Mark thought it was a joke, but soon realized I was serious. He resisted, throwing fits about his “screen time limits,” but I stuck to my plan. After a week, he broke down and admitted, “I was selfish and irresponsible.”
To make sure the message sunk in, I called his mom. When she arrived and scolded him like a child, Mark was mortified. He apologized and promised to be a better father.
Tough love—and a chore chart—worked wonders!