Cliche alert

Sometimes I'm surprised that any couples can simultaneously raise children and stay married. Everyone knows problems come up in relationships. That's to be expected. But it takes energy, understanding, and time to work through them, and those commodities are frequently all but exhausted after dealing with the offspring. Add to that the fact that problems are frequently precipitated by the children themselves, and where does it get you?

Staring out the windshield listening to angry voices in your head, while your husband drives without talking and your children chatter, oblivious, in the back seat.

Or maybe, in the morning after a long discussion that took all night but ultimately got nowhere, listening to hurtful words like poison in your soul, echoing over and over.