Mr. Mom

WEDNESDAY
Brooke left for Texas Wednesday at noon and I was given full responsibility for the care and feeding of the kids, maintenance of the cars, shopping for the meals, and all the other things that Brooke usually does when she is here that I am in no way qualified to execute. I enjoyed attending Ballet and Tap class with Savannah while Trevor had his first solo field trip (the first one without his mother). He was excited while Brooke had anxiety all day. He had a great time and I discovered that he also committed his first felony. While on location he decided he would pocket a souvenir from the Francis Land House. I found the treasure in his pocket and started asking a few questions. He quickly realized I was asking because "stealing" isn't something we practice. After our discussion he decided he would take back the stolen item. Everyone had a bath after working in the yard during a rain storm. We got ready for bed and I was reminded of my shortcomings by both children. Both were crying and expressing displeasure with my parenting as well as a desire for the return of their mother. Finally they both went to sleep and I settled into to laundry. I was up all night with Savannah whining. Brooke usually gets up with the kids so that I can sleep. At about 2:30 in the morning I too was crying and expressing my desire for Brooke's return.

THURSDAY
The next morning I quickly learned that Tuesdays and Thursdays are the busiest days for the kids. (While most of you will consider my day easy, it is not for a rookie) First you have to get both kids up and dressed. There are additional requirements that include matching shoes, socks and hair accessories for Savannah, Trevor has to quadruple-knot his shoe laces because triple knotting doesn't quite work all the time. This simple process without hiccups takes at least 10 min. Yesterday after about 9 min I realized we should already be in the car and that I had missed a step. I decided I would do Savannah's hair in the car when we got a chance. We quickly ate breakfast and then loaded into the car. It has been raining since Brooke left so we had to use umbrellas for all transit to and from the car. After Trevor directed me on the plan of the day and I had dropped him off I proceeded to Pre-school. After I turned on a road Savannah didn't recognize I hear a voice from the back seat say "do you have the GPS"? I said "no, your mom took it to Texas". Silent pause and palpable anxiety that Dad probably can't figure out where he's going. I quickly tell her I have a built in GPS and that we will be just fine. She's unsure but has no choice. We finally make it to preschool after only one wrong turn (the internal GPS put us in the wrong lane). We decide to do her hair while sitting in the parking lot. She doesn't last 3 brushes before she is begging for Mom who apparently does it softer than I do. I drop her off successfully and I am ready to celebrate only I have more items from "the list" that I have to complete.

I head over to the Car dealership, they do the necessary maintenance while I worked in the Lobby(I love free wireless internet). I headed into work for a few minutes and then back to pick Savannah up. She is waiting for me at the door with a big smile. She jumps in and tells me all about her day. (I found out later she saved all the good stuff for her mom on the phone). We decided on Sonic for lunch. She got a corndog and a cranberry limeade. She was in heaven. I dragged her back to my work and she got some cookies from the directors admin assistant. We left in time to pick up Trevor from school and then headed home. We played some games and then went shopping for some food. Both kids wanted to sit in the cart so I ended up with two carts one with each kid. Since we only needed 3 items and two carts I couldn't push both of them. I decided to have one kid hold onto the other cart and I would pull them both. This created a shopping cart train. The problem was we took up twice the real-estate and I was unable to keep an eye on both kids. Half way through our experience both kids are giggling and I am oblivious I just think they are having a fun time. Then I realize after a quick scan of the cart that I have additional items (A fish rub seasoning, some Halloween cookies) and they are loading more things. We put them back (Trevor is going crazy because I put them back in different spots because I couldn't go back to where they lifted the items)and then check out. Back at home we make spaghetti and then get ready for bed again. I am exhausted at this point and Trevor says Dad I really need my school T-shirt for tomorrow. I tell him I don't think I can do any more but I will try. I end up folding all the laundry from the night before and falling asleep during the world series. What a day. Brooke we love you and we are all looking forward to your return. We hope you have a great trip with Kim and the Lady bugs.