While the mom's away... (AKA An ode to my wife)

So Anika left early this morning (I think her phone rang around 2 AM for her to leave) to drive to Richmond (hours away) and fly to Orlando (more hours away). That means I get to spend my first ever weekend alone with the kids.

Terror, thy name is alone time with my kids.

Don't get me wrong; I love my kids. Babe is the cutest thing when she wants to be, which is whenever things are going her way. Bub is the nicest guy when he wants to be, which is whenever things are going his way. Duck's the nicest baby EVER, but especially when he's either (a) sleeping or (b) awake. None of that in-between stuff for my boy. Having the three happen at the same time is next to impossible. To top it all off, Bub had a really tough day yesterday, and lost his lunch at least 4 times. So we went into today with fear and trembling.

You know what? It turned out WAY better than I expected! Granted, the electronic babysitter (that's the TV for you non-parents) was on for most of the day, but the three actually got along for some of the day. I only heard a few hours of any child screaming, and I can't remember once when there were more than 2 at a time! That's progress for a dad that thought he'd break his first a few days after she was born!

Our project for tomorrow? Keep the e-babysitter off. (Cue dramatic chords.)

That said, we got a lot done today. A construction guy came to take care of a lot of our kitchen, which is under repair and being remodeled, we changed some of the furniture arrangement in our living room, and had pizza for lunch and dinner. Well, I did. ...and Duck did. The two oldest didn't really touch their pizza, but they never eat. Don't ask me where their energy comes from.

On to my wife. What a peach! I dump the kids on her so I can do other ("more important," or so I excuse myself) things, and she doesn't complain. I've been searching for a real job for the longest time (seriously, why does everybody want experience, anyways? don't they know we have to start SOMEWHERE?!?), and she has a job selling jewelry. Something that she actually likes! She does the dishes, cleans, cooks, wipes bottoms, and deals with the abuse that kids are generally great at dishing out, and rarely complains at all. AND THEN she deals with me. ...and at the end of the day, she still tells me that she loves me. I don't say it often enough to her, but I am absolutely in love with my wife. Her absence is painful to all of us. My wife is an angel, and I am honored to spend time with her.

On the days I get the call to babysit (ahem, substitute teach), I hope my absence isn't as tough on her as hers is on all of us. If it is, I should bring her flowers every single day. She deserves it.

...and so much more!