Dear Prudence,
Recently I had someone out to my house to check on the electric meter. I was home alone with my toddler (I’m also eight months’ pregnant), so I told my husband I wanted to call him while the service guy was in the house, just as a precaution. He agreed. The meter man arrived and I called my husband, who told me to message him when the guy left, which I’d told him would probably be in the next five minutes. A few minutes later I sent an instant message letting my husband know he’d gone. I got no response for half an hour.
My husband explained that after we’d talked, he went to the break room to get coffee with some co-workers and didn’t see my message until he got back. (He’d assumed I would text.) I hadn’t realized he would leave his desk, and I’m pretty mad that he didn’t check in with me after not seeing a text within a few minutes. I know this isn’t a huge deal, but I’m having a hard time getting over the fact that he didn’t care about me and our babies more in this situation. I’m not a worry wart, but I figured alerting someone that we were alone in the house with a stranger was a reasonable action to take, and the fact that my husband couldn’t comply with such a simple request is weighing on me. He sincerely apologized when he got home that night, and I was able to tell him how I felt, but it didn’t help ease my mind. Can you give me some perspective on this? How do I get past my hurt?
—Stranger Danger