are children a viable excuse?
I have recently returned from a trip "home" (the city where I used to live and a few other places relatively close to it) and twice I had the situation where I was left hanging by people I was trying to pin down and spend time with. On both occasions, I got no coherent reply after leaving messages, and then after a lag of a day or two, got an email from the errant party blaming an ill child for the failure to share company.
Now, while I happily accept that a sick kid is a reasonable rationale for not being social, I'm not sure how I feel about this not-calling thing. It seems just a little insensitive somehow. One would think that there'd be a spare minute to pick up a phone and give the same excuse. Or am I somehow being completely obtuse of the misery and hardship that is parenting that there never actually is a moment one can hand the kid to the spouse and be a little polite?
Now, while I happily accept that a sick kid is a reasonable rationale for not being social, I'm not sure how I feel about this not-calling thing. It seems just a little insensitive somehow. One would think that there'd be a spare minute to pick up a phone and give the same excuse. Or am I somehow being completely obtuse of the misery and hardship that is parenting that there never actually is a moment one can hand the kid to the spouse and be a little polite?