We left the kids at home, with our eldest daughter in charge. She promised to take care of everything. We had just checked in when we got a panicked call from her. Like a responsible teenager, she had done the laundry and the dishes, and settled in her siblings for the night. She tried to take a bath after completing the chores, but there was no hot water.

She thought she had broken the hot water supply because it was ice-cold. I tried to help, but my husband yelled at her to manage on her own, and slammed the phone down, while she was sobbing. I was furious and asked my husband how a teenager could handle a plumbing or electrical issue.
My husband had the audacity to tell me that he had deliberately changed the hot water supply to run only once a day, so that she could get accustomed to “real world” problems. Not once did he tell me that he was planning something like this. I tried to reason with him that it was her first time alone, but he was so adamant and stubborn.

I left the room. Once calm, I called the maintenance guy and asked him to fix the hot water supply, and then told my daughter what had happened. She told me her dad had called her and yelled at her some more for ruining our vacation, and I am hopping mad at my husband.

A day later, my husband sheepishly tried to apologize. He apologized for yelling, but still feels he was right to prank our daughter. He claims this is how she will learn how to tackle problems. I am still furious and don’t know how to address this issue.