It's almost a weekly occurrence at our house. Every weekend, when either my wife or I want to go somewhere, it's usually preceded by one question that gets repeated over and over again: "Is it OK if I go out?" she'll ask, when she wants to go get a haircut or catch a movie with a friend.

"Do you mind?" I'll ask, if ever I want to do the same.

It happens all the time. And every time we are both consumed by the same feeling: guilt! It never fails. She works full time, and I stay home to raise our 2-year-old son. But whenever we want to go do something either at night during the week or on the weekends, we're always afraid that we're not being considerate of each other. She deserves time to relax after a busy day at the office, and I deserve some time out of the house.

We tried to talk about it, but after a while it eventually led to an argument that was both stupid and irrelevant. Guilt has that power to twist your stomach into knots, and very often we blame others for making us feel it in the first place.

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