I want to start this post with a disclaimer. I am in no way looking for sympathy, I fully understand many parents do this all the time. I am just sharing my thoughts.
Yesterday was Sunday. Sunday in our house is kind of like a catch up day, a relax day, a day where I in particular, get ready for the work week ahead. It is a time to get centered and a time to sleep in a little. Sunday is my sleep in day.
A morning where my wife will get up with both boys, so I can have a little peace and alone time. Now, most times, I don’t sleep. Either I am awake or there is just too much going on for me to fall back asleep.
But, it is still time to just be by myself to read, veg or whatever.
Yesterday started out like any other Sunday, but the difference was, later on, I would be left at home with my two sons. Shocking, I know.
That is not a big deal by any means, I have done it before. But on a Sunday, that meant having a fight with my internal self who would want to take care of all those little tasks to get prepared for the week ahead.
And if you knew me, you would know, it is really a slug fest on the inside.
I don’t relax that well when there are outstanding tasks on the mental list. I like to knock them off, relax and then finish the job.
That went out the window yesterday. My wife had a well-deserved afternoon out of the house that was one part for her and one part, a family chore. Regardless, she was going out and that meant it was all on me to keep the ship afloat.
Luckily, we have two really easy kids.
I had my bottle of breast milk, it was nap time for the boys and things were looking like I may get to do whatever I wanted for the three or four hours I was a parental unit of one.
My wife headed out the door just has the baby fell asleep in his swing. Perfect. This is going to be easy.
Then I took our tired 3-year old up for his book and nap. That went quick. Perfect. Two kids down to sleep.
I did not even know what to do first.
I waited around checking the Internet for stuff while waiting for any sign of the boys waking up. Nothing. So I did a little bit of tidying up and then was going to get to my mental list of chores for the day.
Then, the baby stirred and could not get comfy and within a few minutes, he wanted out of the swing. No prob. Nothing like a little snuggly time with the baby.
That was the start of a relationship of being very close for the next two hours. He was fine, but he did not want to be separated.
We walked around the house, we listened to music, we looked out the window, we clipped toe nails, we changed his diaper, basically we did everything to try to extend that period of time where he was going to want a bottle.
Made it about an hour before he blew. The screams of hunger. Had to shut that down before he woke the other kid.
The good news, he took his bottle pretty easy. We have been having a hard time with the baby taking a bottle. That bad news, it went very fast and he still had hunger in his eyes.
Thank God, that passed and we went back to walking, dancing and just being close.
Then I heard foot steps upstairs. Oh boy, things were about to get real.
Harry came down and was full of energy again.
So luckily, he read his books and had a snack. Then we all had a little dance party in the living room. The best part, this bouncing put the baby to sleep. Nice!
So I went risky and put him in his crib. Success, he stayed asleep.
The next 15 minutes, I played cars with Harry and then when everything was at the absolute most normal, my wife came home. To her it looked like I had it all under control. She even said I had “won” the afternoon.
It sure did not feel that way. I was lucky. I was making it up as I went. But hey, I will take it.
I love spending time with my boys. I even let go the part of having to do all those pointless tasks. I was tired and a little grumpy, but I got it done.
It was only a few hours, but it was part of being the dad. It makes you really appreciate all those who do that every day, all day and with more than two kids.
So the morale of the story, all that stuff you need to do, it is not that important. Spend the time with your kids. Let it all go. In the end I got the list done and it did not really take that long. It is mental. Have fun. Your kids will appreciate it more than you know.
Okay, time to start my week.
