So- 4 whole days at home without Mommy. Did I really sign up for this?
Yes, I must admit, leading up to the long Memorial Day weekend, I didn’t give it much thought. How tough could it be? I can feed, clothe, bathe, entertain, discipline, and otherwise care for my two beautiful children. I would worry about how we would all survive after Anna left on her 4-day trip to Fresno. How did she survive when I left to Florida for 6 days with hardly any help!
Chances were, I figured, that even if I couldn’t follow the extremely detailed 2-page manual entitled “How to take care of the kids while I am gone” exactly perfect, the kiddos and I could get by for four days.
I was right. We did it. Albeit with much help from Deda, Grandpa& Grandma Laurie, Grandma Sherry, Inna, Grisha, and Aaron at various times throughout the weekend. But even with a parental wingman, always having the primary responsibility for the kiddos keeps you on your toes at all times.
But – I get it now. Looking after two young kiddos on your own for multiple days is extremely draining, frustrating at times, begins to test your patience with the most routine of things that don’t go according to the expected routine, and has you forget about anything and everything that you might have thought you wanted to do for yourself – like eat, drink, and sleep. The basics aren’t easy to do.
I think I only brushed my teeth in the morning 1 time out of the 4 days. Gross I know, but I just didn’t have the time. So, it goes without saying that my little plan to go for a run each day of the holiday weekend did not happen even once.
After the long weekend experience I can honestly say two things that I already knew:
1) I appreciate and love my wife dearly for everything she does to love, support, and care for me and our two children on a daily basis. Anna is a wonderful wife and mother.
2) I cannot tell you how much I adore my two wonderful children. Not just because they decided that they would be little angels for me, but because being with them alone for an extended period of time gave me the opportunity to appreciate and pay attention to all of the little things that make them so adorable to me.
------------
“Calling in Reinforcements”
The key to survival, as I thought it might be, was to call in the reinforcements for assistance, at least with occupying one of the kids, when I had to perform a necessary responsibility for the other. After this weekend, I would refer to this as a new golden rule.
Some friends in your life you appreciate very much, and then there are a select few that you simply treasure. Leo is one of those to me. I absolutely treasure the limited times I have to spend with him. I think he has a sixth sense or something when it comes to knowing just the right time and just how to lend a hand, small or large to help out. He is the type of person that seems to consider just about everyone else in his life first, before tending to himself, if at all.
What a great guy. He literally shows up at the door a mere half an hour after Mommy left for her trip, and he brought his son Matty to play with and entertain Sascha. I believe that Leo knew that this was the absolute best assistance he could attempt to provide me to get my parenting skills grounded for the long weekend. I didn't seem to know it, but it was exactly the assistance I needed to calmly execute the morning care instructional plan for Cameron and start off on the right track to parental domination.
With the first of the morning down, we talked both Deda and Grandpa into coming over and spending the day with us as soon as we got up and going. Sascha was very excited that BOTH of them were going to play with us all day long, probably because she knows that she has all three of us wrapped around her little finger. We can’t say no to you. Well, I can, but when the other two say yes before I can say no, it makes it more difficult. This was one of the minor drawbacks of all reinforcements - they spoil the heck out of you guys. But nonetheless, I realized that to get through this weekend, reinforcements are to be appreciated and called upon often. This trend would continue.
-----------------
Sascha, my doll, you cracked me up this past weekend. I will have to try and explain the many ways. Almost every day you tend to do or say something very subtle that makes me fall in love with you again and again. I think this weekend, I was more sensitive to it, and was really able to focus on you and your needs completely. When I do that, I realize I am much more aware and can appreciate it all much better.
----------------
“I Have to Pee” – a song sung to the tune of Sascha’s dance recital routine “I Hope You Dance.”
Sascha has been practicing a routine in her dance class that she will be performing in a dance recital in just a few weeks from now. Recently, you have started to hum the song randomly throughout the day, and I even catch you doing a “ton-due” or a “re-luh-vay” here and there that lets me know you are paying attention, and practicing it on your own.
Well, I couldn’t help but laugh out loud when you came prancing up to me sliding left and right changing the position of your arms over your head as you sang “I have to pee…I have to pee” exactly to the tune of the song “I hope you dance.”
You of course, immediately grinned from ear to ear and started giggling, very proud of the funny you had just made. It is just hilarious to me that you have taken the song, and started to make your own words for the song relate to what you are doing. I love it and I can only hope you keep it up. It is very entertaining. Maybe add a choreographed dance to this and you will be set.
-----------------
“Deda? Why you have no hair?”
Another very amusing thing that you did while Deda was holding you on the couch, is that you suddenly realized that Deda doesn’t have much hair on the top of his head. Your attention to the matter became very serious as you went from a playful laugh to a very concerned and direct line of questioning. You needed to know how and why your Deda didn’t have hair, and you didn’t like Deda’s answers at first, constantly following up with another “Why Deda?”
I kept waiting for you to ask him why he “broke his hair.” This is usually your reaction to things that don’t seem quite right to you. Maybe you are starting to observe and understand things differently, because you will continue to ask until you get the answer you like. Seems like a good strategy for most things.
------------------
“Of course you can have some ice cream - even if you will spill more of it than you will get into your tummy.”
While we were at the playground, you were alerted to the presence of an ice cream man.
I think under normal conditions, when the little van rolls up and plays what sounds like an outdated flip-phone ring tone, I can easily distract you and get you to focus on something else.
For some reason, all of the kids around us started cheering and running to their parents asking for ice cream money. It must have been pretty clear to you that you could employ the same technique, but just not on me. No, you wisely ran right past me, and over to Deda and told him that you needed money to buy ice cream. It was so hilarious, and of course Deda could not say no, so you came back in a few minutes so proud of the “Big Spiderman Ice Cream!” that you picked out.
Thing was the bright bluest and bright reddest ice cream I had ever seen. Also, as is usually the case, you can’t eat it faster than it can melt. This always leads to the ice cream dripping all over your shirt, face, getting into your hair, shorts and shoes before you realize it and like the spot. In less than 2 minutes, I was scrubbing you with the limited supply of baby wipes just to prevent the inevitable. You were going to look like a smurf, and you were so happy about it.
Finally, as is also usually the case, Daddy ate the majority of the ice cream :)
-----------------
“She is getting so brave.”
Deda and Grandpa were pretty amazed at how fearless you seemed to attack each of the playground structures. Maybe the first time you attempted to climb up or down something, you would look to make sure that one of us were there to assist you just in case, but after that, you started running up and down very steep ladders, climbing walls, and slides. You were intent on mastering one set of moving platforms in particular. Within minutes, where the other kids were cautiously reaching, holding, balancing, and stepping to get across each time, you not only dismissed assistance, you wanted to go faster each time you tried.
It seems that you have a rather competitive spirit, especially when the other kids are bigger than you. I hope that you start to understand where you limits are on the playground, so that you don’t overdo it one of these times. I guess we are going to have to watch you like a hawk anytime you get on the playground.
Another funny observation happened when Inna and Grisha brought Calvin over to say hi to you before we left the playground. Its always fun to watch your extreme change of emotions when you are around big doggies. At first you are very excited, and you almost jump up and down and giggle, but then almost immediately when the dog is within arm’s reach, you get extremely scared and hide behind my leg. Your face also changes emotions along with your actions. It is just so funny.
Well, after you got very timid and hid behind me, you quickly built up enough courage to run by Calvin and touch him briefly as you ran past on your way to hide behind a big tree. It was almost as if you attempted to time your “hit and run” petting for when Calvin was distracted. Then, like a bunny rabbit, you hopped out, touched him briefly, and skipped over to the big tree, where you peeked out to see Calvin’s reaction.
-----------------
“Grandpa is your Daddy, Deda is Mommy’s Daddy, and YOU are MY Daddy!”
We ended up going to dinner the first night Mommy left. We went to our favorite little greek cafe in our old Carmel Mountain neighborhood where our favorite waitress was soooo happy to see you and your baby brother. We thoroughly enjoyed our meal even though we all tag-teamed to hold, prepare a bottle, and feed Cameron. A confidence building dinner out (with help of course).
At one point during the dinner you turned and playfully asked me “Who is your Daddy?” out of the blue. You were looking at Grandpa, almost encouraging me to point to him, and when I did, you followed that question up with “...and who is Mommy’s Daddy?” Again, you started looking at Deda, and when I pointed to him, you got a big smile on your face and you pointed at me and almost shouted “...and YOU are my Daddy!” We all started laughing. It was very clear that you were tickled pink to be spending time with all three of us at the same time.
----------------
“I Hope You Dance”
You did such an awesome job following along in dance class. Even though Mommy always describes your attentiveness much differently, I never seem to have a problem with you following up on your commitment to me to pay attention to Miss Jackie and try your best to dance like a big girl.
Even a couple of the other mommies made a comment to me about how great a job following along and trying your best you were doing. I was very proud of you! I cannot wait to see how you might perform when you get up on a big stage for your recital. I have a feeling that it won’t be too big for you, and you are going to want to show everyone in the audience how well you can follow the steps. That’s my girl!
---------------
“Yes, he’s always like this.”
Cameron, you were nearly a perfect child the entire weekend. You had a few moments during the middle of the night, and of course it was tough to deal with the 5am bottle requests, but I couldn’t have asked for a more calm and smiley guy with such a sweet disposition.
You seem to greet everyone you see with a happy smile.
Yes, I must admit, leading up to the long Memorial Day weekend, I didn’t give it much thought. How tough could it be? I can feed, clothe, bathe, entertain, discipline, and otherwise care for my two beautiful children. I would worry about how we would all survive after Anna left on her 4-day trip to Fresno. How did she survive when I left to Florida for 6 days with hardly any help!
Chances were, I figured, that even if I couldn’t follow the extremely detailed 2-page manual entitled “How to take care of the kids while I am gone” exactly perfect, the kiddos and I could get by for four days.
I was right. We did it. Albeit with much help from Deda, Grandpa& Grandma Laurie, Grandma Sherry, Inna, Grisha, and Aaron at various times throughout the weekend. But even with a parental wingman, always having the primary responsibility for the kiddos keeps you on your toes at all times.
But – I get it now. Looking after two young kiddos on your own for multiple days is extremely draining, frustrating at times, begins to test your patience with the most routine of things that don’t go according to the expected routine, and has you forget about anything and everything that you might have thought you wanted to do for yourself – like eat, drink, and sleep. The basics aren’t easy to do.
I think I only brushed my teeth in the morning 1 time out of the 4 days. Gross I know, but I just didn’t have the time. So, it goes without saying that my little plan to go for a run each day of the holiday weekend did not happen even once.
After the long weekend experience I can honestly say two things that I already knew:
1) I appreciate and love my wife dearly for everything she does to love, support, and care for me and our two children on a daily basis. Anna is a wonderful wife and mother.
2) I cannot tell you how much I adore my two wonderful children. Not just because they decided that they would be little angels for me, but because being with them alone for an extended period of time gave me the opportunity to appreciate and pay attention to all of the little things that make them so adorable to me.
------------
“Calling in Reinforcements”
The key to survival, as I thought it might be, was to call in the reinforcements for assistance, at least with occupying one of the kids, when I had to perform a necessary responsibility for the other. After this weekend, I would refer to this as a new golden rule.
Some friends in your life you appreciate very much, and then there are a select few that you simply treasure. Leo is one of those to me. I absolutely treasure the limited times I have to spend with him. I think he has a sixth sense or something when it comes to knowing just the right time and just how to lend a hand, small or large to help out. He is the type of person that seems to consider just about everyone else in his life first, before tending to himself, if at all.
What a great guy. He literally shows up at the door a mere half an hour after Mommy left for her trip, and he brought his son Matty to play with and entertain Sascha. I believe that Leo knew that this was the absolute best assistance he could attempt to provide me to get my parenting skills grounded for the long weekend. I didn't seem to know it, but it was exactly the assistance I needed to calmly execute the morning care instructional plan for Cameron and start off on the right track to parental domination.
With the first of the morning down, we talked both Deda and Grandpa into coming over and spending the day with us as soon as we got up and going. Sascha was very excited that BOTH of them were going to play with us all day long, probably because she knows that she has all three of us wrapped around her little finger. We can’t say no to you. Well, I can, but when the other two say yes before I can say no, it makes it more difficult. This was one of the minor drawbacks of all reinforcements - they spoil the heck out of you guys. But nonetheless, I realized that to get through this weekend, reinforcements are to be appreciated and called upon often. This trend would continue.
-----------------
Sascha, my doll, you cracked me up this past weekend. I will have to try and explain the many ways. Almost every day you tend to do or say something very subtle that makes me fall in love with you again and again. I think this weekend, I was more sensitive to it, and was really able to focus on you and your needs completely. When I do that, I realize I am much more aware and can appreciate it all much better.
----------------
“I Have to Pee” – a song sung to the tune of Sascha’s dance recital routine “I Hope You Dance.”
Sascha has been practicing a routine in her dance class that she will be performing in a dance recital in just a few weeks from now. Recently, you have started to hum the song randomly throughout the day, and I even catch you doing a “ton-due” or a “re-luh-vay” here and there that lets me know you are paying attention, and practicing it on your own.
Well, I couldn’t help but laugh out loud when you came prancing up to me sliding left and right changing the position of your arms over your head as you sang “I have to pee…I have to pee” exactly to the tune of the song “I hope you dance.”
You of course, immediately grinned from ear to ear and started giggling, very proud of the funny you had just made. It is just hilarious to me that you have taken the song, and started to make your own words for the song relate to what you are doing. I love it and I can only hope you keep it up. It is very entertaining. Maybe add a choreographed dance to this and you will be set.
-----------------
“Deda? Why you have no hair?”
Another very amusing thing that you did while Deda was holding you on the couch, is that you suddenly realized that Deda doesn’t have much hair on the top of his head. Your attention to the matter became very serious as you went from a playful laugh to a very concerned and direct line of questioning. You needed to know how and why your Deda didn’t have hair, and you didn’t like Deda’s answers at first, constantly following up with another “Why Deda?”
I kept waiting for you to ask him why he “broke his hair.” This is usually your reaction to things that don’t seem quite right to you. Maybe you are starting to observe and understand things differently, because you will continue to ask until you get the answer you like. Seems like a good strategy for most things.
------------------
“Of course you can have some ice cream - even if you will spill more of it than you will get into your tummy.”
While we were at the playground, you were alerted to the presence of an ice cream man.
I think under normal conditions, when the little van rolls up and plays what sounds like an outdated flip-phone ring tone, I can easily distract you and get you to focus on something else.
For some reason, all of the kids around us started cheering and running to their parents asking for ice cream money. It must have been pretty clear to you that you could employ the same technique, but just not on me. No, you wisely ran right past me, and over to Deda and told him that you needed money to buy ice cream. It was so hilarious, and of course Deda could not say no, so you came back in a few minutes so proud of the “Big Spiderman Ice Cream!” that you picked out.
Thing was the bright bluest and bright reddest ice cream I had ever seen. Also, as is usually the case, you can’t eat it faster than it can melt. This always leads to the ice cream dripping all over your shirt, face, getting into your hair, shorts and shoes before you realize it and like the spot. In less than 2 minutes, I was scrubbing you with the limited supply of baby wipes just to prevent the inevitable. You were going to look like a smurf, and you were so happy about it.
Finally, as is also usually the case, Daddy ate the majority of the ice cream :)
-----------------
“She is getting so brave.”
Deda and Grandpa were pretty amazed at how fearless you seemed to attack each of the playground structures. Maybe the first time you attempted to climb up or down something, you would look to make sure that one of us were there to assist you just in case, but after that, you started running up and down very steep ladders, climbing walls, and slides. You were intent on mastering one set of moving platforms in particular. Within minutes, where the other kids were cautiously reaching, holding, balancing, and stepping to get across each time, you not only dismissed assistance, you wanted to go faster each time you tried.
It seems that you have a rather competitive spirit, especially when the other kids are bigger than you. I hope that you start to understand where you limits are on the playground, so that you don’t overdo it one of these times. I guess we are going to have to watch you like a hawk anytime you get on the playground.
Another funny observation happened when Inna and Grisha brought Calvin over to say hi to you before we left the playground. Its always fun to watch your extreme change of emotions when you are around big doggies. At first you are very excited, and you almost jump up and down and giggle, but then almost immediately when the dog is within arm’s reach, you get extremely scared and hide behind my leg. Your face also changes emotions along with your actions. It is just so funny.
Well, after you got very timid and hid behind me, you quickly built up enough courage to run by Calvin and touch him briefly as you ran past on your way to hide behind a big tree. It was almost as if you attempted to time your “hit and run” petting for when Calvin was distracted. Then, like a bunny rabbit, you hopped out, touched him briefly, and skipped over to the big tree, where you peeked out to see Calvin’s reaction.
-----------------
“Grandpa is your Daddy, Deda is Mommy’s Daddy, and YOU are MY Daddy!”
We ended up going to dinner the first night Mommy left. We went to our favorite little greek cafe in our old Carmel Mountain neighborhood where our favorite waitress was soooo happy to see you and your baby brother. We thoroughly enjoyed our meal even though we all tag-teamed to hold, prepare a bottle, and feed Cameron. A confidence building dinner out (with help of course).
At one point during the dinner you turned and playfully asked me “Who is your Daddy?” out of the blue. You were looking at Grandpa, almost encouraging me to point to him, and when I did, you followed that question up with “...and who is Mommy’s Daddy?” Again, you started looking at Deda, and when I pointed to him, you got a big smile on your face and you pointed at me and almost shouted “...and YOU are my Daddy!” We all started laughing. It was very clear that you were tickled pink to be spending time with all three of us at the same time.
----------------
“I Hope You Dance”
You did such an awesome job following along in dance class. Even though Mommy always describes your attentiveness much differently, I never seem to have a problem with you following up on your commitment to me to pay attention to Miss Jackie and try your best to dance like a big girl.
Even a couple of the other mommies made a comment to me about how great a job following along and trying your best you were doing. I was very proud of you! I cannot wait to see how you might perform when you get up on a big stage for your recital. I have a feeling that it won’t be too big for you, and you are going to want to show everyone in the audience how well you can follow the steps. That’s my girl!
---------------
“Yes, he’s always like this.”
Cameron, you were nearly a perfect child the entire weekend. You had a few moments during the middle of the night, and of course it was tough to deal with the 5am bottle requests, but I couldn’t have asked for a more calm and smiley guy with such a sweet disposition.
You seem to greet everyone you see with a happy smile.
And now for proof that we actually did it! Here are a few photos... we had a great time, and mommy should have breaks like this more often!
Everybody helping!
Gotta love that ice cream Deda bought you... must have been highlight of the day, enjoying the small things in life
