Before things got CRAZY at my house, my husband would sometimes care for our son after having a few drinks. He hadn't yet admitted to his alcoholism, and I told myself that he was lucid. He was responsible - nothing horrific was occurring.
But it got there. Fast.
One day I arrived home from school (I'm a graduate student) to find an empty house. No answer on my husband's cell phone.
He had decided to take the day off from work, drink until he couldn't see, then pick up our son from pre-school and drive him to the park to "play"!
When he sobered up, he couldn't believe that he would do such a thing. He couldn't remember much of the day. He was ashamed and appalled. But he kept drinking, so there couldn't be any guarantee that the same situation (or worse) wouldn't happen again.
That was when the re-arrangements began for me.
He didn't like it one bit - but that's too bad for him. My innocent child cannot be the one who suffers because his father is unable to consistently make healthy choices.
If, in the beginning, anyone had ever told me that I would be telling this story, I would have told them they were crazy. My husband was different - it wasn't that bad.
I was shocked at the progression.