"You do, indeed, need some expectation to get anything done. This is true as a single person, true as a married couple with kids, and true as a single person with children. I feel that the expectations are more obvious and more assured for single people and married people with kids, because there are simply more of them. They are the "norm" so to speak. My difficulty is that the mismatch is, more often than not, not due to misunderstanding or complications or emergency, but often, blatant disregard for commitment. Like my parents indicating they'll be home "any time after 4pm" and then they aren't there at 5pm, aren't answering their phone, I'm an hour from my house, and I've got a starving kid in the backseat with no food on me because I didn't plan for my expectations to not be met. Thankfully my expectation that my bank will honor my credit card swipe and that Wendy's will still serve chicken nuggets and cups of oranges saves the day. Or like booking a photoshoot for an evening..." - Jim Reverend