When we walked into that city council chamber, I never expected anything to change. I was just there to support funding for the service animal program, not realizing the day would change my life—and my son Nolan’s.

Nolan, quiet and trusting only a few people, depended on his service dog, Hunter. Years earlier, my husband Daniel had offered to stay home with Nolan so I could return to work. It seemed perfect—until I got a call from my mother-in-law, Linda, revealing she had been secretly doing all the work while Daniel played Superdad.

Linda and I hatched a plan: she pretended to be unavailable. Within a day, chaos erupted. Daniel struggled with meals, diaper disasters, and toddler tantrums. By the end of it, he admitted the truth—he had underestimated it all.

We found a balance with part-time childcare, but more importantly, Daniel finally respected the hard, invisible work of parenting.