When my husband smugly announced he was going on a resort vacation without me because I “don’t work,” I smiled sweetly and let him go.
But behind that smile? A storm was brewing.
He thought I did nothing all day. He was about to find out exactly how wrong he was.
Keith strutted into the house like he’d just won the lottery. Smug. Too smug.
“Guess what?” he said, dropping his keys in the bowl and plopping down on the couch like he hadn’t just left me pacing the hallway with our screaming 12-week-old. “Mom and Dad are going to a resort. They invited me. I’m going next week.”
I blinked. Lily, in my arms, was red-faced and wailing, and I was running on two hours of sleep, a granola bar, and the last remnants of lukewarm coffee.
“Wait… what?” I said, my voice hoarse.
Keith shrugged. “I need a break.”
A pause. Just long enough for me to hear the sound of my blood boiling.
“And me?” I asked quietly, patting the baby’s back while rocking slightly on my feet.
He gave me that look — the one that made my eye twitch. “Babe, you don’t work. You’re on maternity leave. It’s not like you’re in an office all day.”
I nearly choked on air.
“You mean… taking care of a newborn around the clock isn’t work?”
Keith laughed — actually laughed. “I mean, come on. It’s not the same. You nap when the baby naps, right? It’s like a long vacation. Besides, I’m the only breadwinner right now. I deserve this.”
Oh. Oh no.
I laughed too. Not because it was funny. But because I was dangerously close to launching the baby bottle at his head.
Instead, I inhaled slowly, counted to three, and smiled sweetly — the way only a truly pissed-off wife can.
“Of course, dear. You’re the only breadwinner. Go have fun.”
Keith smirked, fully convinced he’d just won the lottery of oblivious husbands.
Oh, sweetheart. You have no idea.
The day he left for his little “well-deserved vacation,” I kissed him on the cheek and waved from the porch with our baby in one arm, a diaper bag on the other, and murder in my eyes.
As soon as his car disappeared down the street, I sprang into action…
As soon as his car disappeared down the street, I sprang into action.
First stop: my mom’s house. She’d been begging for more time with Lily, and honestly, she was the only person I trusted not to text Keith with, “Guess who dropped the baby off?”
“I’ve got three nights,” I told her, handing over the diaper bag. “Take pictures. Don’t ask questions.”
She winked. “Handle your business, baby.”
Next, I drove home, took a shower without hearing phantom crying, shaved both legs for the first time in a month, and put on actual clothes with a waistband. Then I poured myself a glass of wine, sat at the kitchen table, and made a list.
The “Things Keith Thinks I Don’t Do” list.
Laundry: Washed, dried, folded, color-coded.
Groceries: Stocked, meal-prepped, coupons clipped.
Bills: Paid. On time. Always.
Appointments: Pediatrician, dentist, vet — mine and his.
Mental load: Everything he didn’t even realize needed remembering.
I posted a picture on Instagram that night — me, holding a homemade dinner, candles lit, glass of wine raised, captioned:
“Day 1 of my own vacation. No screaming. No mansplaining. Just peace and pasta. #StayAtHomeQueen”
By Day 2, I was glowing. I booked a massage, picked up pastries from the French bakery he always claimed was “too pricey,” and binged three episodes of a show that didn’t include animated animals or singing vegetables.
Meanwhile, Keith’s texts had shifted from casual to confused.
Keith: “How’s the baby?”
Me: “Thriving.”
Keith: “Are you home?”
Me: “Define ‘home.’ 😉”
By Day 3, he called.
“Hey, uh… is everything okay? You’re being kind of… quiet.”
“Oh, you mean like the way you said I nap all day and do nothing while raising a human?” I said, twirling my spoon in a café like I was the villain in a Netflix drama.
Silence. Then: “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Keith. You went on a vacation because you think being a mother isn’t real work. So I took one too. The difference? I earned mine.”
He stammered, “Wait — where’s Lily?”
“Safe. Loved. Happy. Just like I’ll be from now on — with or without you.”
I let that hang in the air for a second before hanging up.
When he got back three days later, sunburned and sheepish, the house was spotless, the fridge was full, and a sticky note on the fridge read:
“Welcome home! Laundry’s on the couch. Dinner’s in the fridge. Baby’s at Nana’s.
P.S. I’m not the maid. I’m not the babysitter. I’m your partner — or I was, until you forgot what that meant.”
He never dared call what I did “not work” again.
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