My wife has started a part-time job, working on some nights and weekends. It isn’t in her field (graphic design), but I think it will help her feel better that she’s contributing to the family financially (though she does so much for us already taking care of our daughter – she should be paid for that!). So, this Sunday, her first day at work, I got to hang out with my daughter. In a sure sign I’m addicted to blogging, I kept some notes of our time together, for the purpose of “liveblogging” it here. Be wanted. Some details may be slightly exaggerated for comedic effect. 🙂
10:30 AM – My wife leaves for work. My daughter (22 months old) handles it well, but after a few minutes says “Daddie holdie.” I do.
10:45 AM – Daughter wants to draw, but not with her crayons. Rather, she wants to use pencils. I find no harm in this as long as I keep a close eye on things. Nothing other than paper gets drawn on, as far as I know.
10:50 AM – Snack time. Also the first time I’m able to sit down since my wife left. Things are fun so far and I’m getting a workout.
11:00 AM – I turn my head for one nanosecond, only to find my daughter has carried a chair to the kitchen, on top of the hard, slate floor, climbed up on it, and says, “I wash my hands”. I calmly tell her we don’t climb on chairs. The girl has no fear. This starts the clock watching. One hour down, four to go. **sigh**
11:15 AM – My daughter entertains herself playing with her Playtown people. It’s so cool to see her entertain herself. She even fluctuates her voice for the different people. She give the “daddy” a low voice and the “momma” a high voice. At this point she could ask me for a Ferrari, and I’d probably buy her one.
11:25 AM – MAJOR DIAPER INCIDENT! Enough said.
11:30 AM – I let her watch Charlie and Lola, a really cute British cartoon on the Disney Channel. Whew!
12:00 PM – Lunch time. I heat up pork chops and green beans from the night before. I get everything ready and she tells me “Eat at little table!”. That’s fine with me. She ate pretty well actually, and when she wasn’t eating she was singing songs. It feels nice to sit.
12:30 PM – She’s done eating. I clean up and note the time. The hockey game is on T.V. I hope to turn it on with the sound off, figuring she won’t really notice it. My daughter asks me for “Emma Ms” (M&Ms).
12:35 PM – I turn on the hockey game and my daughter and I pretend to play hockey, and no I don’t wear my ice skates in the living room. I’ve learned my lesson on that one.
12:45 PM – My daughter notices a lady bug in the house and I attempt to “humanely” remove it from the house. It flies away, though, and my daughter says, “lady bug all gone”. Bugs 1, Struggling Writer – 0.
1:00 PM – We lay on the couch together and I read books in a desperate attempt to get her to take a nap. Just when I think it’s working, she springs up with another energy burst. I break out Mountain Dew number 2.
1:30 PM – I ask her if she wants to use the potty and she says she wants to use “momma’s potty”, so we go up to the bathroom and I hold her while she uses our toilet. It works! We call her grandparents to tell them the good news.
1:45 PM – My daughter is playing with her big green ball. At one point she was lying on the ground and the ball rolled away, prompting her to say, “Don’t run away from me ball, I read to you.” Commence melting of my heart.
2:15 PM – I need a nap and my daughter turns off the hockey game, confident the Penguins are going to win, I guess.
2:15 – 3:00 PM – I don’t know what happened. It’s all a blur. Maybe I blacked out for a bit. Anyhow, at 3:00 we got our coats on and met my wife at the mall to share Auntie Ann’s pretzels. I survived my time alone with my daughter and got a new appreciation for what my wife does every day.
Well, that was my day. It was fun and exhausting.
The Struggling Writer 