This post was originally published on Her View From Home.

I’m not going to lie, it wasn’t the best day for me. There were lots of tears and episodes of spit-up.

I was ready for my husband to be home an hour before he ever was.

When he finally got home, he dealt with the toddler so I could tend to the baby and get her to bed. 

We had a big list of things to do that night—cleaning, organizing, and decluttering the basement. 

Once I got the baby to bed, cleaned up, put dinner away, and my husband still wasn’t downstairs, I got angry.

Fast. Too fast.

Why was I doing all of this by myself? We usually split these chores at night. 

Why was he hiding upstairs? 

So I took my anger and went to the basement to try to start the work we needed to get done. 

Lo and behold, I couldn’t do any of it because I wasn’t strong enough. 

Cue more anger. 

I took my collected anger and irritation from the day and marched it all straight upstairs to tell him to come and help me. 

That’s when I found this—him asleep with the baby on his chest.

I instantly felt so much guilt. 

Why did I let myself get worked up over him not being there to help me clean the kitchen? 

Why did I let my anger from the day continue to fuel my evening? The only two hours I get to spend with my husband each day.

He’s worked hard all day.

He’s tired, too.

He came home and held the crying baby so I could have a five-minute break. He put the toddler to bed I’ve had to pretty much argue with all day. 

He helped because he cared. He helped because he loves us. 

They both fell asleep. Exhausted from their albeit different days. 

My anger is now gone. It’s been replaced with gratitude. 

I needed tonight to play out exactly how it did.

Anger and all. 

I needed to be put in my place.

Without it, I wouldn’t have been able to witness this.