Mr. Mom

First things first, Kolya's new word of the week is "destroyed". Heidi and I started a new Kolya word of the week game just recently. The rules, unbeknown to him or his sisters, are that he must totally surprise us with it's use, it must be a word that he learned on his own, and of course it has to be a word that we have never heard from him before. Last week his word was "hexagon"! OK, proud dad moment over.

Yesterday, the lovely Miss Heidi took off to the "Big Town" of Tulsa, Oklahoma for some training. So I'm playing Mr. Mom until Thursday night. No biggie, I'm in the zone! I'm juggling work, kids, guitar lessons, running club, boot camp, Thursday night youth group at church, cooking and pressure from my fly fishing buddies to go fish every afternoon. Actually, fishing is not pressure, if I could find a way to cast whilst cooking dinner, scheduling showers and tucking kids into bed, I'd be hooking onto that big rainbow trout I missed a couple of weeks back at the Big Thompson! Hey, fish gotta eat, too!

I'm not boasting about all the stuff going on in my life. Miss Heidi does a lot of work when she is home, probably way more than me. She's the glue that holds us all together. Also, I applaud single moms for their ability to juggle all of life's demands. I personally know two, Joe's mom (my little brother from the program) and my baby sister who is doing it all and visiting her incapacitated husband in the hospital, all the while explaining to her two little boys why Dad can't speak or move. Having been a single parent myself, I have sympathy for the hard work it takes to raise kids on your own. So this little soiree is nothing compared to what Heidi goes through on my drill weekends and outings or what my Little's mom and my sister cope with daily. I just have to remind myself to slow down and be compassionate with the kids. I get into this zone I spoke about and I'm all business. Nadia and Kolya need direction, but they take it well and with the first attempt. Julia still needs constant direction and quizzing. A typical event goes like this:

D: Julia, when we get home I want you to take a shower and put on your PJ's.
J: OK
D: Julia, what are we going to do when we get home?
J: Put on PJ's and take a shower.
D: Uhh, no, turn it around!
J: Ohh, ha-ha, Dad! I get PJ's wet that way!

(then as we walk in the door, she sits down or wanders off)

D: Julia, what are you supposed to be doing?
J: Take a shower?
D: Yes, and what else?
J: Uhh, put on PJ's?
D: Yes, great job! (here's where i tum off the all business attitude and show compassion) Now let's help Dad by getting this done. (big hug, big kiss)

Then I repeat the above steps a few more times before the actual task of showering and PJ's gets done at all. Meanwhile, everyone else has moved on to the next task, which usually is helping with dinner. Family time comes after dinner, but this week, we have thrown a dog into the mix! Yep, we took the plunge! More on that in another post later this week.

I really do love and relish my role as Dad and helping Heidi with raising our children. It's so much fun and when they get it and things click, all the hard work pays off! That being said, I look forward to a little downtime from when we put them in bed (8pm) and when I turn off my nightstand. Depending on the day I've had or if I'm tired that's anywhere between 9 & 10 pm. I read a book or surf the Internet with the laptop during this time, sometimes I watch the only two TV programs I Tivo, but only after the kids are in bed. (They don't get TV at night during the week. They are allowed cartoons before school, only.)

As I drift off to sleep, that ever-elusive Rainbow trout rises to the surface to inspect my entomological offering. Most nights he stares at it and swims off. Other nights he refuses to budge, snickering at me as if to say, "you gotta do better than that Rogé! Your fly pattern is weak, your presentation is off, and the current has your 'bug' scooting sideways in the drift! Hmmn, not believable, not even close!"

~ Felix ~