Have you ever worked with someone so much that you just clicked? When sticky situations arose you both knew what to do and issues just bounced off you?

I was thinking recently about how I’ve been dating my (now) wife for over 11 years. From an outsider’s perspective, are there some of those things where we just know exactly what to do. Like, do some couples know how to play good cop bad cop when they’re negotiating down the price of a car? That’s not us yet. Do we know how to enter a party full of strangers and work the room? We’re getting there.

Instead, I think parenting is helping us form this bond.

This year’s Christmas vacation was amazing: family, gifts, and watching my kids bond with their grandparents in Florida. Then we had to return home…

Imagine a travel itinerary involving two adults and two kids under 2. That makes for a lot of information to track and baggage to haul. We lumbered through the airport like Mystics from the Dark Crystal. Our hectic trip down there was ultimately catastrophe-free. Then we had a great holiday.

However, the night before our return flight, as we were packing our bags that overflowed with Christmas gifts, we heard my son crying in the bedroom. My wife and I went in to check on him and he soon proceeded to vomit all over us three times.

Our minds raced with concerns about what could be wrong with him and how this might affect our travel arrangements. Would we not be able to travel the next day? Would we have to reschedule our flight?

This wasn’t his first time getting sick by any means. Without saying more than a few words, my wife and I took action. She cleaned him and got him a drink. I cleaned his bed and called our doctor’s consultation line for advice in determining whether or not we could travel. Luckily, the boy went back to sleep within about an hour. But we still hadn’t packed!

We woke up at 5:30 AM after about three hours of sleep, cramming in what we could and hoping it would suffice. We feared the worst: that traveling might endanger our child, others or at the very least be embarrassing if he vomited again on the plane. Maybe the shock of the night caused us to be over prepared, but the trip went about as well as we could’ve expected. He was pretty crabby from lack of sleep but otherwise everything went okay. We even went over to his other grandparents’ house to socialize that night when we got back home.

Looking back, that experience was pretty stressful. However, I’m glad to know that, with my wife at my side, we can handle these type of unexpected situations in stride.

Knowing what that kind of relationship feels like will hopefully help me develop more with my friends and coworkers.