I know I have mentioned before that my AH is working several hundred miles away.  He makes it home, generally, about one weekend a month.  Honestly, the arrangement is tough, but it makes it much easier for me to detach from a lot of his behavior because I don't deal with him face-to-face on a daily basis.

Unfortunately, this also means that I essentially single parent my three children, work outside of the home full time, take care of the two dogs, take care of the house, etc., with only the help of my babysitter.

One of the things that has been causing me a lot of angst and guilt is one of our dogs (the dog that my AH brought into our marriage).  He's SUCH a good dog, and he just hasn't been getting enough attention.  He's a big dog, and he leaves such a muddy mess in the house when he comes back inside in the springtime.  I'm already stretched so thin, and this poor dog just wasn't getting what he needed.  My AH has always liked him to stay with me and the kids while he works out of town, because of the protection factor.  But he also *really* misses his dog.

I had mentioned several times to my AH how much extra work it is for me to have the big dog in the house, and that the babysitter was struggling with the big dog, too.  A few weeks ago we finally agreed that on his next visit home, he would take the big dog with him back to where he is working.  AH came home this past weekend, and took the dog with him when he left on Sunday.

I spent Sunday sweeping up dog hair, getting the house tidied up, and enjoying the serenity of only one dog (and an 8-pound dog, at that) in the house.  It felt good to know that I had asserted myself on an issue, and the outcome will make MY life better.  It's an added bonus that it will make the big dog's life better, and my AH's life better, too.

It's amazing how much my home-related stress is reduced now that I'm not feeling guilty about the big dog not getting enough attention, and that I'm not constantly cleaning paws and all that stuff.