It can be really difficult when you are trying to maintain a full-time job and raise children effectively.

• I never want to be one of those people who puts their kids on the back burner and focus is entirely on their career.

I truly want to do it all and be there for everybody in my life. However, things are always complicated when you’re dealing with small, temperamental individuals who don’t necessarily have the words needed to communicate with you. Recently, for example, I found myself struggling to get work done every day because my daughter wouldn’t stop crying and pointing at the air vents. I couldn’t understand what was wrong with my kid every time she threw a tantrum with her face staring wide-eyed at our air duct system. I kept asking her what was wrong with the air vent and trying to lure her closer to the ventilation channel. However, nothing that I did made any difference. She wouldn’t go anywhere near the air vents and she screamed louder every time I was within a few feet of the air duct opening. Clearly, there was something about our central heating, cooling, and ventilation system that was making my kid a terrified pain in the ass. After a few days of this, I was growing exasperated with my daughter and our indoor air temperature control devices. I finally gave in and called out our local heating and cooling technician to see if there was anything wrong with the HVAC system. When the HVAC technician inspected our air ducts, I was relieved that he found the answer. There was a family of mice in the ductwork, and clearly, my daughter was not a fan of Ratatouille.

Daughter is terrified of air vents