Saturday, July 16, 2011
Mr. Mom: Day Three
I've heard runners discuss that point where there bodies want to give up--the wall. I think all of us have hit that point today. I'm tired of the pace. I have to sprint back and forth to accomplish in one day an eight of what my wife can accomplish in a day with her eyes closed. I wonder if she is secretly an octopus. To give you an idea of how tired we are, I woke up at 8 am, as did my son, but the girls woke up at 8:15 am with some coaxing with the toddler. Coaxing was also required to get the girls up from naps, again mostly with the toddler. It may seem strange, but I think part of the reason the kids are so tired is that they have to put in extra effort to help Daddy in his effort to be Mommy. I think they are subconsciously pulling some of the weight of having no Mommy around. My oldest daughter, for example, has checked up on me several times during the week to make sure that when they get a treat or a drink or something I've gotten one too. Several times she's asked, "Are you hungry too?" or "Did you get your water?" I think she's noticed that I often don't eat and drink with them, unless it's family dinner. I find it easiest to eat either before or after them when I'm watching them. Ultimately, we had a fun day, and the kids again gave me their vote of approval on my temper. We started with two-and-a-half hours at the park--the only park I've ever seen that I'm sure was designed by someone with kids because it was completely shaded. The kids showed off all the tricks they've learned with Mommy. Daddy also pushed them higher on the swings then Mommy would approve, but they liked it. We had a picnic lunch, complete with gnats. After our eldest's quiet time, while the girls were busy napping, my son and I did some science experiments from a kit given to him by my mother-in-law. We got a little carried away and used up all the remaining ingredients to see what would happen. Nothing blew up but we got some cool chemical reactions. I had to use some extra baking soda and vinegar--sorry, Honey, I couldn't help myself. We did some reading practice, mostly on blends. Then we had a good sword fight. The kids did have a little bit of a melt-down this evening, fighting over toys. It was clearly because they were too tired to control themselves any longer. I quickly warmed up the spaghetti dinner they refused to eat yesterday and encouraged them through dinner, ice cream, and bath, to try to be happy so that we could have a family movie night. Toward the beginning of the movie I cleaned, then put the baby to bed. I would normally let her have popcorn with the older kids but I was too tired to deal with the mess and the problems caused by her incessant swiping. Once she was in bed and the cleaning was done, the kids got their popcorn, finished the movie, potty and teeth, a book, and finally bed. I tried to encourage my son to sleep in my bed tonight. He was confused. I explained that I've enjoyed the extra time I've had with him so much that I think I will miss it when Mommy comes back. Alas, he wanted his own bed and completely missed the sentimentality of it all. He did sneak back downstairs and changed his mind only to change it back again before I could lay him down on my bed. Boy am I glad Mommy will be back tomorrow, but I am also grateful that I've been able to be Mr. Mom for a few days. I say this now because I have a feeling that taking them to church tomorrow will not be as good of an experience--then again, I've been pleasantly surprised three days in a row already. And to ensure that my wife, who can never leave home when she leaves home, can enjoy herself, we left voice messages and sent pictures and texts to let her know that things have not fallen apart with me in charge. We love you, Mommy, and look forward to having you back tomorrow night. Now I'm going to shave--first time in three days.
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1 comment:
You daughter is wise! I often forget to eat and for that matter hardly even find time to run to the bathroom. But, I wouldn't change a thing. Being a Mom has certainly been the greatest growing experience of my life.
And I think it is great that you pushed them a little higher than "Mom" would approve. While I understand the feeling because I too am one of those Mom's, I know my girls thrive off of the confidence and thrill that playing with Dad gives them.
My girls self esteem comes a great deal from their Dad.
When he plays with them and wrestles with them their self worth and self esteem grows. Moms are wonderful but so are Dads. :o) Both (Moms and Dads), are so very vital and needed.
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