“Dad, is today Father’s Day?”
Charlotte had repeated this same question on each day leading up to the day, but it had finally arrived.
In an apt twist of fate, I had the kids by myself for the weekend – Karen was attending a cousin’s wedding at a state park in upstate New York. Because children were not invited, combined with the fact that it was an over six hour drive, the trip became a sisters’ road trip for Karen and her two older sisters.
It was an appropriate way to spend Father’s Day Weekend – a microcosm of the potpourri of fatherhood.
Appropriately enough, Saturday began with Luke waking up at 5:30am. Great. Charlotte slept until after 7:15. When I told her that Luke and I had been up for almost two hours, she simply laughed. The laugh was adorable (the lack of sympathy was not).
Some highlights from the weekend (indicative of some of the recurring joys of fatherhood):
- Bike riding and shooting baskets in the driveway (including a ride around the block with the kids in the bike trailer)
- Making mac and cheese (the food, not the blog)
- A dance party in the living room that combined the seemingly disparate music of Abba and The Charlie Daniels Band (the kids are huge fans of fiddle music, particularly The Devil Went Down to Georgia)
- A rousing round of “Get Me” in the Rumpus Room
- Singing Rudolph at nap time and bed time
- Reading several Dr. Seuss books (Yertle the Turtle and The Lorax)
- Baking cookies for friends and Grandpa
Some of the challenges, in addition to Luke’s early wakeup times, included an interruption to my morning constitutional and a stressful ride to my parents.
While in the bathroom, I could hear the bedroom door swinging back and forth (it squeaks), followed by a brief commotion and then Charlotte screaming that Luke shut her hand in the door. After Charlotte was comforted and calmed down (it did leave a mark), I had a discussion with Luke about not playing with doors (for the umpteenth time) and a discussion with Charlotte about staying as far away as possible if, by chance, Luke is playing with a door (again, not the first time).
On the way to see Grandpa on Father’s Day, I was forced to pull the car over when Luke decided to throw both his and his sister’s sippy cups into the back of the car, out of reach. Later in the trip, Luke got very upset, asking me to get me his ‘napkin’ and indicating it was in front of him. He got extremely worked up before I realized he was talking about his umbrella, which was lying on the floor in front of him.
But the highlight of the weekend was the presentation of gifts, largely because the kids were so excited.
Karen had left notes for a gift scavenger hunt that we all enjoyed immensely.
In addition, Aunt Jen had arrived for the sisters’ road trip with a gift for me that was hidden in Charlotte’s closet: a large red sombrero (it’s glorious – almost two feet in diameter with a wide brim and adorned with many shiny decorations). Charlotte was thrilled to lead me to it – she has long maintained that I need more dress-ups. She seems to feel badly that she has so many, which don’t fit me, while I have barely any. Surprisingly enough, Charlotte was able to keep the secret of the sombrero until the appointed time.
In addition, earlier in the week, Luke had decided to give me one of his fire trucks. Karen had asked if there was anything he wanted to give me, thinking something along the lines of a drawing. He immediately declared, “fire truck” and went downstairs. He came back up with one of his fire trucks. He still plays with it regularly but calls it ‘Dad’s fire truck.’
I hope you enjoyed today’s serving of ‘mac & cheese.’
