My son asked me if I ever get a day off. I don’t remember what prompted the question, but I do know that I was elbows-deep in dirty dishes and the kids were having a meal (which one escapes me; during these holiday-break days they have kind of blended together).

“Is there ever a day that you don’t need to be taken care of?” I asked him. He said no. “Then I don’t get a day off,” I replied. He said that I get a day off when I go to work and they go to school, but I told him that even if he goes to school, I am in charge of taking care of both of them, getting their meals ready and making sure they are ready for school, taking them to and from, bath time, bedtime, etc.

In the few days since we had that exchange I have noticed a change in this boy. Amid the normal activities of an almost 6-year-old, there are moments of quiet, moments when he will hug me for no reason, moments where he will ask to help me with whatever chore I’m doing.

In the past, I’ve tried to remind the kids that it’s up to the three of us to stay happy while daddy is away. We are a team and we have to rely on each other because daddy is relying on us. Families work together. I can see in his response that Spencer did take some of these words to heart, and he’s trying to help out as he can.

Of course now I have to convince him that work is not really a day off, but that’s a lesson for another day.