I always knew that being married would be difficult. However, I never realized that it would be such a thankless obligation each day. I guess that things really changed with my husband and I when we had children. Earlier in our marriage, we had a pretty blissful partnership. Then we brought some little rugrats onto the planet and everything fell apart. I found myself trying to balance two dogs and two kids along with my job and household responsibilities. I’ve got to tell you, this viral pandemic has not made things any easier. As if it wasn’t difficult enough to work from home, I also have to keep up with the children who are ruining the house 24/7. These kids are such disasters that I even have to arrange more professional heating, cooling, and air quality control appointments just to keep up with their destruction. My little monsters are so dirty that they introduce a lot of excessive dander, dirt, and dust into the air. Since we had children our air filters have needed to be changed every two weeks. We often have to arrange professional heating and cooling appointments for routine things like air duct cleaning and air conditioning maintenance. I feel like the kids produce so much extra heat that our thermostat works overtime to keep up with our air temperature management. My concerns aren’t limited to the children, because the dogs contribute plenty of fur and filth to the air quality as well. If we didn’t have all of these beasts running around the house I think our energy bills, HVAC service fees, and mental health would be greatly improved.