Monday, November 15, 2010

GUEST POST: A day in her slippers

I'm so excited to introduce our first guest poster, my Handsome Coastie! Here's his take on 24 hours as a single parent.


A Day in Her Slippers ... well kind of


Janine and family have been bugging me to write a ‘guest’ post on the blog for some time. After spending a day or so in her slippers, I felt I could now do a post justice 'cause who wants to hear about my day in the office or at school. This post expounds upon 8-9 November, which is better known as "The Big-Boy Time."

Timing was everything; last week just so happened to be in between semesters for me. After having completed finals the previous week, I was ecstatic at the prospect of doing no school work and hanging out with my oldest for two days. I had big plans for the two of us, which almost panned out. Our agenda included at least one stop at Chick-a-Lay, a little outside time, movie watching, a stop at an indoor playground called "All for Fun, Fun for All", the purchase of a toy, and eating a lot of junk food. Well, mission almost accomplished. We went to Chick-a-Lay twice, we ran around outside, we watched Toy Story 3, we went shopping at Toys 'R Us and got a monster truck toy and some Christmas movies, we ate lots of food, but the big ticket item, "All for Fun, Fun for All" is only open on weekends. Oh well, we made up for it with an extended time in the Chick-a-Lay play area where I hung out with all the moms for the better part of an hour.

Mom left us at dinner time on Monday the 8th and the fun commenced almost immediately. After only a little grilled cheese and some soup, the big boys were still hungry. Chick-a-Lay sounded good. We braved the drive-thru for some chicken goodness. Of course Jack had to get apple juice and the medium fruit cup to go along with his chicken nuggets. We came back home to watch "Tom and Jerry" with our delicious second dinner. The most fun we had was roaring back and forth at each other along with the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) lion previous to each episode. Jack does a really good lion roar. As daylight savings had thrown the big guy off, I let Jack stay up until just after 8:00pm with the hopes that he would sleep later than the 6:00am he pulled that morning.

At 6:15am, Jack was up and ready to go. Unfortunately, I was not as I stayed up after Jack went to bed to watch Iron Man 2. Besides, I wanted Jack to get some additional rest before our big day. ;) Needless to say, we got around after 7:00am. After breakfast, we thoroughly enjoyed watching "Toy Story 3". Jack couldn’t stop staying Woody and I couldn’t stop thinking about the Toy Story on Ice program I watched in the Meadow Lands several years ago. After movie time, we both got cleaned up. I don’t know how Janine does it, but I found myself pleading with Jack from the shower to stop unraveling the toilet paper and destroying my room in general. I could hear the closet door slamming shut and objects falling throughout my shower.

Daddy-Cam: Outside time.
We were now cleaned up and ready to take the town. I figured we would go to "Fun for All, All for Fun" to work up an appetite for some additional Chick-a-Lay. Unfortunately, when we arrived, the place was dark and the sticker on the front door said open only on weekends. BUMMER! I had been playing this place up for Jack all weekend. Besides, what grown up wouldn’t want to jump around on all those inflatable toys with their child? It was still too early for lunch so we went to Toys 'R Us to burn some time and money. After ravaging the Christmas DVD display and coming away with some classics like "Silver and Gold", "Frosty the Snowman," and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", it was off to the toy isle to get Jack a treat. Of course we walked out of the story with a miniature monster truck (Jack is really in to trucks right now).

Daddy-Cam: Playing with his new truck!

It was now off the Chick-a-Lay. If you have ever been to one on a weekday for lunch, you know that it is a mom’s place. I was literally the only man in the joint. I felt as if all the ladies were looking at me with disdain and judging me for not being at work. I wanted to say: "No really, I just have the day off!" After downing some delicious chicken and some apple juice, to the play area we went. Jack conquered the complex for the better part of an hour before I had to drag him away kicking and screaming.

Daddy-Cam: Checking out the local talent.

Daddy-Cam: Conquering the Chick-A-:Lay playplace.

After a good nap and some playing with the new truck, it dawned on me that I had to make dinner. After a quick call to Janine, it was evident she was going to be home by dinner. What does any man do that is in charge of dinner? Oh yeah, I lit that grill and threw some burgers and dogs on. For good measure, I even made Jack some lima beans to make mom happy. Janine and Jude came home to a warm meal on the table and our family was reunited thereby ending "Big-Boy Time."
I hope you enjoyed this very long and detailed synopsis of Jon and Jack’s "Big Boy Time."
Let's have a round of applause for my wonderful hubby, who lovingly gave up a portion of his thesis research week to not only watch Jack, but also to give us all an inside look at "Big Boy Time."  I'm so thankful that he's able and willing to take over the house-running reigns for 24 hours, even if he forgot to tell me there were TWO trips to Chick-A -Lay involved...

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jon, You made my day! I can just imagine all the young wives making copies of your blog and laying it next to their husband's breakfast coffee tomorrow morning. Don't be surprised if you get some hate mail from jealous daddies who never would have thought to spend their day off with a 2-year old. Most importantly, you made some priceless memories with Jack. He is one blessed little boy! Way to go!

Offshorecpa said...

Love the post, especially the part about you having to be one of the moms at C-f-L! I'm sure Jack loved every minute of it.

megan douglass said...

well done, papa jon! just wish cameras were following you. real househusbands of maryland. ;) ha ha

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