Misery, my husband and I talk about this all the time. The Jw life is very rough on a family. I just dreaded meeting nights, when the kids were little they were getting cranky at 730pm and ready for bed, but no you had to dress them up and make them behave. Just when mom and dad could use a nice shower, a bathrobe and the couch you have to scramble and get ready for a meeting a put on a fake smile and act interested. Come home at 1000pm with a crabby overstimulated wide awake toddler.
When the kids are older it is even worse, they have home work, school activities and you have to run out the door with no dinner or dinner with a total mess of kitchen to come home to. Saturday and Sunday morning there we were playing drill Sargent again! Come on let's get out the door everyone unhappy, then we usually came home exhausted and slept for two hours (depression from the futility of the days events). Then I would usually get up to clean the car after it was abused for 3 hours out in service. Don't even get me started on convention week, OMG! None of this is very conducive to a warm safe haven that a home should be, and not very romantic for mom and dad either! NMKA