I CAME HOME TO FIND MY KIDS SLEEPING IN THE HALLWAY — THEN I LOOKED IN THEIR ROOM AND LOST IT

I left for a week-long trip, thinking my husband Mark could handle the kids, Tommy and Alex. But when I returned at midnight, things seemed off. The house was eerily quiet, and my boys were sleeping on the cold, dirty hallway floor. My heart sank. Where was Mark? The living room was a mess, pizza boxes and spilled ice cream everywhere. I checked the bedroom—empty, as though no one had been there. Panic set in. I then heard muffled noises from the boys’ room. I cautiously opened the door to find Tommy and Alex, disheveled, dirty, and wrapped in blankets, as if they’d endured a nightmare.