At precisely 5:32 PM, a man returned home from work to find his children playing in the yard in their pajamas, surrounded by scattered tissues. His wife’s car door and the house door were wide open, and the dog was nowhere in sight.
Feeling a bit uneasy, he cautiously entered the house. The hallway was a mess with a knocked-over lamp and a disheveled carpet. From the living room, loud music blared with the familiar tune of a children’s show. The children’s room was strewn with bedding and toys everywhere. In the kitchen, dishes piled up in the sink, breakfast leftovers still on the table, and yogurt splattered on the carpet. The fridge door hung open, and a half-melted ice cream box sat on the counter. Dog food was scattered across the kitchen floor.
Worried now, he hurried upstairs, dodging toys and clothes, searching for his wife. Dread filled his mind as he checked the bathroom, only to find wet towels, shampoo bottles in the toy tub, and toilet paper strewn about.
Racing to the bedroom, he feared the worst. But there she was, his wife, cozy in bed, reading a book with a cup of coffee. She looked up and smiled at him.
Confused and distressed, he asked: “What happened here today?”
She smiled back and replied: “You know how every day when you get back from work, I tell you how tired I am, and you ask me what I’ve been doing all day?”
“Yeah”, he answered cautiously.
“Well, today I didn’t do that”, she said, grinning mischievously.