I’ll never forget the day my husband, Ben, suddenly announced that he wanted to homeschool our six-year-old daughter, Lily. We had always planned to send her to private school, so I was taken aback by his suggestion. But Ben was passionate about it, and eventually, I agreed to give it a try.
At first, everything seemed to be working out. Ben would spend hours with Lily, teaching her and helping her with her projects. But as time went on, I began to notice that something was off. Lily would often talk about delivering packages, and I couldn’t understand why she was spending so much time doing that.
It wasn’t until I came home early from work one day that I discovered the truth. I overheard Ben and Lily talking, and I realized that he had been using their “school hours” to deliver packages. I felt a mix of emotions – shock, anger, and sadness.
It turned out that Ben had lost his job months ago and had been too ashamed to tell me. He didn’t want me to think he was a failure, so he came up with the homeschooling idea to cover up what was really going on.
I was hurt that Ben didn’t trust me enough to tell me the truth. But at the same time, I understood the pressure he was under. We put Lily back in school the next week, and Ben eventually found a new job as a grocery store manager. It wasn’t his dream job, but it was honest work that came with benefits.
Looking back, I realize that Ben’s secret was a cry for help. He was struggling to provide for our family, and he didn’t know how to ask for support. I’m just glad that we were able to work through our issues and come out stronger on the other side.
