The kids prefer me. This isn't any kind of secret, because kids are also tactlessly and brutally honest. Sometimes, I have to imagine parenting isn't exactly fun and games for Terry.
However.
He was away this long, long, kids-home-from-school-for-3-days long weekend. Zoltan has been potty trained decently well since he was 2, and has averaged no more than one accident a month for a good 6 months. He peed his pants Every. Single. One. Of. The. Four. Days. Daddy. Was. Gone.
When you're parenting your kids solo, the hours between bedtime and wakeup are especially precious. And, apparently, especially rare. Each night Terry was gone the kids took a solid hour to settle down and go to sleep ... heck I don't know if they were asleep but they stopped calling for me so I'll take it. They also fell immediately out of their previously and only recently acquired habit of not waking until 8am or later. Oh no, 7am is good enough for them now!
Not getting enough sleep makes people crabby. Especially children who haven't quite learned to articulate their emotions yet. The bickering, squabbles, just plain being mean to each other was about to drive me crazy and one morning the kids were informed that I was taking them outside to play because they were driving me crazy. Not my proudest moments but I managed not to say anything really damaging to them so I call it a win. They sometimes fight going out, but it is an instant mood booster for them and it's a double whammy because it is an instant mood booster for me too, so everyone is happier. Until one kid reaches the front door before the other and then everything is a trauma again.
From the moment Terry walked back in that door, the kids became the sweetest, most loving, most affectionate children one could wish for. Oh how I dread his next business trip.
However.
He was away this long, long, kids-home-from-school-for-3-days long weekend. Zoltan has been potty trained decently well since he was 2, and has averaged no more than one accident a month for a good 6 months. He peed his pants Every. Single. One. Of. The. Four. Days. Daddy. Was. Gone.
When you're parenting your kids solo, the hours between bedtime and wakeup are especially precious. And, apparently, especially rare. Each night Terry was gone the kids took a solid hour to settle down and go to sleep ... heck I don't know if they were asleep but they stopped calling for me so I'll take it. They also fell immediately out of their previously and only recently acquired habit of not waking until 8am or later. Oh no, 7am is good enough for them now!
Not getting enough sleep makes people crabby. Especially children who haven't quite learned to articulate their emotions yet. The bickering, squabbles, just plain being mean to each other was about to drive me crazy and one morning the kids were informed that I was taking them outside to play because they were driving me crazy. Not my proudest moments but I managed not to say anything really damaging to them so I call it a win. They sometimes fight going out, but it is an instant mood booster for them and it's a double whammy because it is an instant mood booster for me too, so everyone is happier. Until one kid reaches the front door before the other and then everything is a trauma again.
From the moment Terry walked back in that door, the kids became the sweetest, most loving, most affectionate children one could wish for. Oh how I dread his next business trip.
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