Adrienne had to work in the City today, so I had the pleasure of staying home with the girls. It was a great day: zoo in the morning, an ok lunch, Hannah napped well and Mal had fun playing by herself during quiet time. We painted and then went to the playground, where Mal really wanted to show me how she could climb the ‘spider web’. She does a great job, and Hannah’s no slouch either! Then we come home and I start making dinner. They both ask for some granola to tide them over, so I give them a small bit each with milk. I’m in the kitchen making pasta with shrimp and mushrooms (and a butter/Parmesan sauce). Mal loves shrimp, so I figure it should be a good dinner, even if Adrienne isn’t home yet – which I figure she’s running late. No problem. The girls start making some spitting noises and laughing – they are known to do this – so I remind them not to and go on with my prep. They continue making the noises but I don’t think much of it. A minute or two later I go back to the dining room, and there’s Mal, drinking milk out of Hannah’s bottle, then spitting it out – on to the floor and table. After which Hannah takes a cloth and wipes the table. Needless to say, both went to bed immediately with no dinner, about 6:45pm vs. their normal 8pm bedtime. Adrienne still wasn’t home, so I got a dinner alone by myself. Some would be ecstatic about this, but it really made me sad – a bad end to a great day. And I really like eating with and just generally spending time with the girls. Probably because I don’t get to, in the grand scheme of things. And then comes the hard part – sticking to your guns. Hannah screaming from her crib after she’d thrown her pillow and blanket and babydoll out. Mal coming down the stairs and saying she’s hungry. That’s the hard part. The good part is I know I’ll remember the spider web climbing and the carousel ride at the zoo, but the dinner alone will quickly fade.
June 24th, 2015 at 10:36 pm
Fatherhood. I decided early on I wanted to be “dependable” in that my children could expect me to do what I said I’d do. An early, very tough lesson for me involved not wanting to carry through with a punishment I’d said would happen if a child didn’t do something. I think I suffered much more than the child. Lesson for me: don’t threaten to do something I wouldn’t be willing to carry through with. And carry through with what I say I’ll do. Fatherhood.