When my husband came home that day, holding a girl in his arms instead of our son, I forgot about my severe headache and stood up from the couch, unable to keep myself on my feet. “Michael, who’s this? And where’s Ethan,” I yelled. His answer caught me off guard.
That day, I felt totally numb. The headache was becoming more and more severe and all I wanted was to rest my head on the comfy cushions. Gathering strength to get up and pick up my son from kindergarten, I heard my husband say, “Em, take some rest. I’ll pick up Ethan today.”
But I knew he had this important conference call with Singapore in a matter of an hour, so I said it was fine, but Michael insisted. He said he’d reschedule, and that’s everything I wanted to hear.
I fell asleep, hoping I would wake up feeling at least a bit better.
After some time, I heard the front door open.
No matter how tired I was, I needed to hug my son in order to feel better, but my son was nowhere to be seen. Instead of Ethan, Michael was carrying another child in his arms. A little girl whose clothes seemed a size smaller.
I though I was dreaming and needed to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating. “Where’s our son?” I kept asking, but Michael told me to calm down before he was able to explain.
It turned out that Ethan was bullying that sweet girl, Mia. He threw her cardboard dollhouse in the trash, saying it was cheap. He also told her that her parents must have been poor since they couldn’t get her a real toy.
These words made me feel dizzy. Our son was just six years old. I knew he was entitled at times and didn’t show any kindness, but this was too much.
Michael tried to defend his impulsive decision, but I simply couldn’t understand how he could just swap the kids.
He explained he and Mia’s parents agreed it would be for the best. “Michael, this is insane,” I said and insisted on having our son back home right away.
“No, Em,” Michael said. “Ethan is entitled and spoiled. Last week he broke his new tablet because the game wasn’t loading as fast as he wished. He needs to learn what it feels like to live without priviledges.”
I knew he was right about Ethan, but there had to be another way. Michael, however, said this was the best thing we could do for our son, no matter how drastic it felt.
At that moment, I spotted Mia looking at me so I turned to her and asked her if she was hungry. She said “yes” in a heartbeat. It was as though she was waiting that question for way too long.
I prepared chicken nuggets and fires for Mia and she ate them quickly. While she was in the kitchen, I begged Michael to take me to our so so that I could explain to him what was going on.
He agreed and we headed to Mia’s place.
The neighborhood was so different than the once we lived in. Mia’s home was small, with peeling paint and a chain-link fence, but the garden was neat and full of flowers.
When I entered the house I saw Ethan seated on a worn couch. His eyes were red from crying. The moment he spotted me he ran towards me and asked me to take him home. I told him I couldn’t. He needed to stay there and learn how to behave. But I explained that he would return home in a couple of days.
My heart crushed. I knew Michael’s decision was an impulsive one, but I decided to respect his choices.
In the days that followed, Ethan learned how to help with the dishes and with other chores. He realized that not everyone has a maid at home. He also learned that not everyone has plenty of money, because he saw Mia’s mom counting her coupons when they went to the store.
As of Mia, my heart ached every time she showed surprise when I placed food in front of her. One morning, she couldn’t believe that she could have pancakes for breakfast.
After a couple of days, Michael and I went to pick up our son, hoping he learned his lesson.
When he saw Mia, he hugged her and gave her one of his action figures. He also promised to be her friend and have her over whenever she wanted.
That evening, as Michael I stayed at the porch. As I placed my head on his shoulder, I asked him not to make decisions regarding Ethan on his own any more.
He promised he wouldn’t and confessed he was scared about the outcome of his decision. But we were both glad our son learned a valuable lesson from this traumatizing yet healing experience.
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Bored Daddy
Love and Peace