mister-mom

I’ve had a lot of daddy-daughter-time this week, and its been fun- here are some reflections:

first of all, the reason that I’ve had a lot of daddy-daughter-time is that Deanna has been doing a big project for her old work, and it has required her to put in hours on site. last week I came home early a few days. I came home early on monday of this week, and I took wednesday through Thursday off to stay with jane.

this week I was reminded that the best things in life are free. we ran out of fruit snack s and crackers, so jane and I went to the grocery store. I let her ride in the car-cart. Deanna doesn’t let jane ride in these, and now I know why. jane takes over the store. she shouts out “BEEP BEEP! HERE I COME!” the entire time. she loved it though. the next day I said, “jane! do you want to go and play with dad today? we could go to chuck e. cheese, or to the museum, or to the zoo!” jane made it clear that what she really wanted to do was go to the grocery store and ride in that little yellow car again.

I was also reminded of the power of wanting what you have. the other day we were thinking of a place to go, and jane wanted to go to D & J hobby to go and play with their dollhouse. that place has no seating, and I’m not entirely sure that they want us playing with their toys. and the more I thought about it I realized, our dollhouse at home is WAY better than the dollhouse that they have in the store! the only difference is that theirs has a cool play mat underneath! so we made plans to go and get a playmat.

we decided to go to pottery barn kids in the mall to get a playmat for the dollhouse. last time we went there, there was stormtroopers there; so jane wasn’t too thrilled about that. I told her that they were gone. the more we talked, the more I sensed that she was in the mood to just play quietly by herself. so when we got to the mall I said, “do you want to just get your toy and leave?” and to my surprise, she did. she didn’t even get out of her stroller to look around. when we got home, I set the playmat out on the coffee table, put the dollhouse on top, turned on some baby Einstein classical music, and she played happily by herself for several hours. its healing for us introverts to get some time with ourselves every now and then.

some other funny moments: jane and I were disagreeing about something nad she ended the argument by saying, “that is not a very good attitude, dad!” she’s been watching A LOT of dora the explorer and she’s been saying words in Spanish (or as she says, “spadish”). she tries to roll her R’s and its really cute. last night she had an ariel doll and she was sitting by herself and making ariel swim through the air singing, “part of your world.” so cute. we learned to sing the B-I-N-G-O song this week. we also had a lovely picnic lunch at the park. there are times when I’m hanging out with my kid, and she’s munching away at some cheetos, and we’re not necessarily saying much to each other, but it’s a moment that I wish could go on and on. sometimes I wish that I had powers like hiro on heroes and just freeze time.


this week was jane’s first night at awana! whoa! she loved it. it ends after 8pm, which is way after jane’s bedtime, which made it even more fun. its interesting to look at youth group through a parent’s eyes. I’ve always tried to, but now I actually am! ack!

I also noticed that even though it was fun to be at home with my girl, I also really enjoy doing what I do down at the church. I’d do it for free if I could.

Deanna and I both came away from this week with an appreciation for what each other do. I learned that staying at home is not as glamorous as it sounds. taking care fo a kid full time is hard work! its not all fun and games. its hard to run errands and to get everything done, and still show attention and affection to a big kid.

she noticed that its weird to be gone from your kid all day and then come home and see her for just an hour or so before she goes to bed.

finally, this week I was reminded that I really enjoy my life, my work, and my family.