Lunchbox Love Notes

Last week when my kids went back to school, my hubby was still home on vacation.  He woke up early and allowed me to sleep in an extra before we woke up the kids and got them ready for school. While I was still sleeping he made their lunches.  Later, when I emptied their lunch boxes after school I found sweet little lunchbox love notes from Hubby to the kids.  I try to write notes to the kids as often as I can and leave it in their lunchboxes. I think it's really sweet that Hubby wrote them each a note. I know that they loved getting a love note from Daddy.  It was a sweet transition from vacation to going back to school. His help made it a smoother transition for me, too.

Like Daddy

He looks so scholarly holding a ruler in his hand

Recently Mr. Bananas has been asking for a tie to wear on Sundays. I have to say that we dress somewhat casually for church. The boys wear polos or sweaters, Buggy wears a dress (she's probably the most dressed up), Hubby wears a polo or a button down shirt with dress pants, and depending on the weather I'm wearing a dress, skirt, or even jeans with a nice top. But no heels for this lady. A nice pair of flats does nicely.

So it was funny when Bananas started asking for a tie. We have two toddler sized ties. I don't know the location of one, so all we have been able to find is a red Christmas tie.  He's worn it two Sundays in a row and has started asking to wear it during the day over his t-shirts.  He says he wants to be "like Daddy."

 "Daddy wear tie?"
"Yes, Daddy wears a tie for work."
"Bananas wear tie, too. Wear, tie, too!"

It's pretty stinkin' cute. Especially when he runs down the aisle at church to catch up with the big kids and walk down to Children's Liturgy with them.

"Yes! I get to wear a tie!"

Daddy

The other night the sight of my eldest son lying down at the top of the staircase with his pillow, afghan, his favorite yellow blanket, and his pal Chester greeted me as I came up to go to bed. He wasn't quite asleep yet and when I asked him what he was doing he said, "I don't get to see Daddy a lot anymore so I was hoping to catch a glimpse of him."  Hubby has started a new rotation at work. It involves a longer commute, no off-Fridays, and less family dinners. Hubby really likes his current position and is learning a lot, but the commute, lack of time off, and seeing the family a lot less is definitely a drawback.  It made me a little sad that Boogie was missing Daddy so much.  I figured I would have to suck it up, it's only for 6 months and with our busy schedule I didn't think that the kids have noticed these changes. I have tried to keep things going as smoothly at home, but my kids are observant and after Hubby has missed a number of dinners, they started noticing.

Family Vacay

We were all very grateful for our week long vacation at the beach and time to spend together as a family. We were all a little spoiled getting to spend so much time with Daddy.  But we are back to reality, Boogie will begin school on Monday, and Buggy the week after.  Hubby is already back at work and with soccer looming, my races coming up (I have two scheduled over the next two weeks), and our volunteer duties at church, our weekends will be busy once again. Which means less family time as we zoom off in our different directions.

Hubby made it a point to take Boogs out the other night for some father-son time and I think it has helped to ease missing Daddy.  They went out for dinner, walked around after, and came home with dessert.  They were out for several hours and spent most of the time just talking and hanging out. I think it was a good idea. Although Hubby and I do many things for our children like volunteering in their classrooms, participate in their athletic events being coaches or reps, and volunteering when and where needed, sometimes it is good to just be with them. Play a game, read a book, take each of them out for a little one-on-one time.  While all the volunteering in their many activities is good and keeps us involved, the one-on-one time keeps us connected.

Dance party in the kitchen

I spent the evening at home with the Buggy and Bananas. We had a dance party in the kitchen while I made dinner. We watched a movie and snuggled together. We enjoyed a low key evening. It's times like these when we allow the kids to stay up late in the middle of the week that I am grateful for the last week of summer when we don't have any obligations to camps or sporting events and we can soak up the last few days before the start of the school year just doing whatever we can whenever we want because we do not have to be somewhere.


I think Hubby will have to make a few more date nights with each of the children while he continues with this rotation.  I am grateful that although I see him less, he is not traveling and I see him when he comes home and on the weekends.  It also means I will be more diligent in scheduling date nights so that we can spend extra time together.  This rotation is good for his career and hard on the family, but it is necessary at this time.  At the end of the day, we still have each other and that is a good thing.

Daddy and the Big Kids

Hanging On

Hats off to all of the single parents out there. I only have to do it temporarily and only every few months. However, when I do it, I am exhausted!  Most nights after the kids are in bed, I find myself face down on my bed trying to find the willpower to get up from my 2 minute "let's sit down and rest" so I can finish putting away the dinner dishes, feed the cats, lock up the house, prepare everything for the activities for the next day, and pop up in a moment's notice when one of my doodlebugs startles in the middle of the night and needs me. There doesn't seem to be a down time.

Hubby is working on a big project that will take him in and out of town over the next few months. The thing with his job is sometimes he doesn't know when he's headed out and I'll find out a few days ahead of time with an, "Oh, Babe, I gotta travel in a few days and it will be for x amount of time."  We did really well last February. We knew it was happening, we knew he'd be gone for a while, and I used all my "waiting" time to prep myself mentally and emotionally.  With the help of technology and lots of "Face Time" thanks to last year's anniversary presents of iphones for each of us, the kids and I were able to see Hubby often enough to make things easier.

This time around has been a little tougher. I think that the timing isn't the greatest (but when is it ever great?). The beginning of the school year, the beginning of new extracurriculars, and new schedules have made this season's traveling a bit harder. We weren't set in our school routine when Hubby had to start traveling, so Boogie has been taking it especially hard. My heart broke a little when I overheard him tell Hubby, "I tried to fall asleep in your bed when Mommy was downstairs. I even tried to sleep on your side of the bed, but it didn't help. I still missed you a lot, so I went back to my own bed."  The little kids seems to be doing okay with it. Buggy knows that this is just the way it goes and keeps telling Daddy to "have a good time and I miss you!" and Mr. Bananas goes with the flow because he doesn't know any better. But, man, my Boogie Monster is having a rough time.  He's super bouncy. He's antagonizing his sister more than usual and having a harder time following directions.

Me? I'm more exhausted than ever. I'm keeping busy by training for next month's running festival.  Running let's me forget how tough it can be sometimes.  I think I'm also trying to run myself into exhaustion so that I'll sleep better at night, but that's not working. Not getting enough sleep coupled with intense work outs are leaving me drained and a little cranky. Not a good combo.

But day by day and week by week we'll get by. We're settling into school routines and by the end of the week each of the kids will be scheduled into their extracurriculars. Buggy and Bananas are taking gymnastics this Fall and Boogie is signed up for soccer. Gymnastics started last week and soccer will begin this Saturday. I think regular classes/practices will keep us busy and we'll settle into an overall life routine for the school year.

I'm very grateful for the offers of help from various friends. However, I think my strategy will be to hold on tight and keep on runnin'. Oh, and prayers for patience. Lots and lots of patience!

And just as it says in Proverbs 31, her husband has confidence in her (I just wish I had a little more in myself)...she works with eager hands (well mostly eager)... she gets up while it's still night (did I actually ever fall asleep???)...she sets about her work vigorously (keeping busy is my motto)...her arms are strong for the task (and for lots of hugs for my sweet kids who need a little more TLC)...

Here's to praying for a little less discombobulation and a little more strength and patience.

Our early bird squeezed in one more snuggle and one more story before Daddy left for his business trip

Threshold Thursday

By Thursday I had hit my threshold for my DH (dear hubby) being away on business. We are rarely apart and his traveling the last few weeks has disrupted our routine. Though I must say the kids have done much better this time around. Overall, we're all doing much better. But if you had seen me yesterday morning, you would not have thought so.


First thing, since I had gotten to bed late on Wednesday night, I got up late Thursday morning. I hate when I do this because I feel like that I start the day already behind with little chance of catching up.  Within two hours of getting up, I had to get ready, get the kids ready, make sure that I put the paperwork for the teacher in my purse, remember to bring the flowers as a thank you for the teachers, remember the camera so that I can video Boogie's May sing, try to get out of the house on time so that I was on time for Buggy's check up at the doctor's office.  Of course it's when I'm stressed and trying to get out the door that Boogie tends to dawdle. My patience quickly dissipates and my voice gets louder and sterner. I finally busted into tears on the stairs next to the door realizing that we would be late and my day was unraveling before me and we hadn't even made it out the door.  


It was at this time that my son sat down next to me and asked me why I was crying. He then patted my back, kissed my cheek, and said, "It's hard when Daddy's not home."  How true, how true.  


I pulled myself together, sucked it up, and out the door we went. I think I just needed to vent all the stress that has been building up with DH being gone.  Once I did, I was able to move forward.  I did and so did the kids. We made it just a few minutes late to school. We made it to Buggy's appointment on time.  I made it back to school on time for the Sing and I was able to record it.  We went home and skipped the gym afterwards. I focused on only getting the laundry done and made it the only thing on my to-do list while the kids played and napped. We made it to t-ball practice last night with minimal distractions.  Once we got home the kids went straight to bed and I was able to take a deep breath.


For such a stressful morning, the rest of the day was pretty peaceful. I let go of all of the other "to dos" on my list. I got the one thing done that I wanted to do and felt successful. We had a great night.  


I still can't wait for Hubby to get home tomorrow morning, but I feel like I'm finally over the hump and we'll make it :)