Home Alone The Dad Version

Good morning. A morning post? What gives?

Well that is how it goes when the house is empty and there is not a baby sleeping in a swing next to your computer.

Yep, night 1 of being on my own went okay. I survived the quiet.

I do miss the fam jam based on the following evidence.

  1. I have thought I heard the kids at least three times.
  2. I did not know what to do with myself between 5:30-8 pm.
  3. I watched the 10 pm news just because that is what we usually do.
  4. I woke up thinking I heard the baby.
  5. I woke up at 6:38 am just like I do every morning.
  6. I started making a bottle before making my tea (okay I made that one up).

Needless to say, it is weird being in this house without the wife and boys. It just does not seem right.

Day 33: Where Did Everyone Go?

Day 33, sunny, cold, somewhat quiet and I am getting to the daily post a little earlier in the evening. Why you ask?

Because everyone left.

Yep, my wife and boys got on a plane about an hour ago to fly to Toronto for the weekend. I dropped them off and waved to them as they went to security around 4:30 pm.

Now that I am home, it is quiet and very weird. This is my first time being away from Charlie.

They are all back on Monday.

So now what? What do I do with all this time?

Well tonight is just about living in the moment of peace and quiet. Living in the moment of not having to put anyone to bed. Living in the moment of watching TV during dinner.

Let’s back track before I start looking towards what I will be doing.

The day started with Charlie sleeping through the night again and Harry waking up dry again.

I tell yah, these two impress me every day. This weekend marks the one-year mark of me toilet training Harry, so it is cool that now is the time he is doing a great job going all night without a pee.

The only down side is the cat love to start his moaning at 5:30-6 am which is a really downer when the kids are playing their part in the movie called Sleep Through the Night.

Anyways, the cat is old and won’t be changing his ways any time soon.

Day 32: A Spoonful Of Ketchup Makes Everything Better

Good evening parents and non parents. Tired? Well, sit back and catch up about Day 32 on the PL. Today was the last day of full family until next week as my wife took what was just a girls weekend in Toronto and rolled it into a work outing and a grandkid reunion with Nana.

Simply put, my wife is packing up the boys and heading to Toronto until Monday. Yep, that is right. Supermom. As for me, I will have four days to myself and I hope you don’t feel sorry for me, because it is going to be awesome.

I will talk more about that later.

Back to today. I had both boys today so that meant an outing was needed. The weather was cool, dark and looked like rain, so the playground was out.

Day 31: Don’t You Steal My Sunshine

Day 31, hoo baby what a ride so far.

It is getting to the point where daily readers know everything that goes on. Do I need better material? Nope. Our two boys are all that is needed when it comes to what to write about.

But some days are just hard to write. Some days there is no gas left in the tank or you would rather just move straight to the couch when the kids are finally asleep.

That usually happens to me on Tuesday it seems. Not that end of the week, but Tuesday. Why?

Well Saturday, Sunday and  Monday are full days with both boys so I guess once Harry goes back to school, it is a nice break to regroup and rest up for the rest of the week.

Maybe yesterday it was because the weather was pretty cold and rainy.

So what did happen while I was hope with Charlie?

Chicken Thighs On The Big Green Egg

Updated January 26, 2026 – of course, you can’t get chicken for $5 anymore, but the recipe still stands.

You can’t get a better ratio of price to taste than cooking up a batch of chicken thighs on the Big Green Egg. It seems our grocery store is always having a sale on chicken thighs, and until I started smoking them, I was never a big fan.

But now, for a $5 pack of chicken thighs, I can turn it into a meal that would easily go for $20+ in a restaurant. (Fun 2024 update – wow, imagine if a pack of chicken thighs was still $5 for one pack.)

How do I do it? Well, it is all about the dry rub and the powers of the Big Green Egg.

Day 30: We Were In A Garden State Of Mind

What a great start to the week. I wish every Monday was like this. The sun returned after a dark and rainy day and both boys were as well-behaved as you could hope for.

The day started later than normal which was awesome. I know why my wife and I were so sleepy as we stayed up until midnight watching the Survivor finale. But the boys? They both slept past 7 am.

And the even better part. Harry got up and had a long pee. No bed wetting once again. Since we went commando on the night-time diapers, he has almost been perfect. What a guy. Very impressed. He boasts so proudly about it as well.

After breakfast, naps and a bottle, we decided it was time to tackle the back yard. Weeds, long grass, rocks to move and just assessing what had to be done overall.

While Charlie sat in his stroller, I was able to cut the grass while Harry raked for me. We pulled weeds and cleaned up the garden. It felt good to get it all done before another few days of rain.

We did a quick walk/bike ride to get the mail and it was back for lunch. Harrison “made” his lunch today which meant pouring an open can of Spider-man spaghetti into a bowl. He then went ahead and ate the whole thing (after I heated it up of course).

Day 29: Trying To Remember What Happened On Friday

The problem when you sit down to write a post two days later is, you can’t remember what happened. Or at least when you are a tired parent. Friday seems like a week ago with everything we have done this weekend.

Now that the family is napping and the rain is streaming down, I can finally catch up on what was Day 29 and a little bit of the weekend adventures.

Friday started out with another dry morning for Harrison. Way to go dude. It is so special to wake up, here his feet scamper down the hall, pause and here a long pee. Yep, his brain and body are holding it all night.

Friday morning was not the best weather so Charlie and I took it pretty easy. We went for a walk with the goal being to get to the mail box.

Success. The best part, our new passports came. So we are ready to travel now.

Man, I can’t think of anything.

Oh yeah, we had fun with the jolly jumper for a bit.

Day 28: No More Mr. Night Times

No more, going pee-eee-eee.

Well in bed anyways.

Yep Day 28 started off with a great success. Harrison woke up with dry pants and a dry bed. Last night was the first night that he did not wear night time pants to bed. He has been toilet trained for almost a year but we still did the night time pants.

It was time. Opening night, Harry dominated. No issues at all.

Okay that is not entirely true. He did not go to sleep until after 10 pm because he kept getting up to go to the bathroom. Hey, we can’t say no right. I think he has figured out the workaround for staying up. Just keep getting up and say you have to go pee and we are helpless.

Oh well, if it means a dry bed every morning, it seems like a small inconvenience to me.