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Yes, what's that, Mr Head of the Department? Oh,you said,uh, you want me to tame lions now while teaching the university students? No problem! I've got transferable skills!
Wow, so, today was my first day back at work since I started minding my little one(Solomon -aka -it better be just like I like it or I'm gonna screech like an eagle and raise all types of [censored] up in here!) three days a week. Yes my wife took pity on me and gave me an early pardon for good behaviour. What a difference a day makes! And who knew adults were so reasonable and easy to talk to! I have gained a new appreciation for my work away from home and a new respect for the sisters (and brothers) who stay home full time with their children. Child minding is not joke! It is not only a difficult job but it takes a lot out of ya; spiritually, physically and mentally. Not that I am complaining or anything! I loved my first week with him and I am looking forward to many more. The last few days have been insane, funny and downright chaotic but I wouldn't have it any other way. Some people swim with sharks to get an adrenaline rush, I just hang out with my kid. The important thing is that when I look back on this time in our lives, I want to be able to say that I did the best that I could with what I had. I hope to get as much encouragement, support and information as I can, while venting if that's OK. I am also writing this because I see the days quickly slipping away and I don't want to miss any of it. I know that it will be impossible to always be there or remember everything but I'm gonna savor every moment he is with us. I love my boy more than I can express. Thank you to all of my friends who encouraged me to start this blog. Let the chaos begin!
Food, nappies (diapers for those who speak American), change of clothing, milk, toys and a snack for daddy! Ok, lets get this party stated! Wish me luck! :unsure:
(Where is the blond one and what have you done with my milk?)
I call this one, 'The Warth of Solomon!
OK, so mission accomplished and I survived the first day. The little lad is in the bed(of course he didn't go down with out a fight) and papa bear is finally having dinner. Mama bear would be proud. Thanks for all the encouragement folks. I'm glad to have you on the team;)
Ok so nobody told me that it would be like this! (Inflection modulating down at the end of that statement)
OK, so the second day was even better than the first. We had a wonderful breakfast. Then we both got dressed and left the house around 8am to catch the bus and hang out at one of my favourite cafes, BTP in city centre. Solomon and I had so much fun. We had snacks and chatted with the staff, met random stranger and even took a nap. After that we walked over to the Church and met up with the mums and tots group, (which numbers 130 to my surprise) to have a little fun. We played games, made friends, ate wonderful snacks (all I'm gonna say is Rocky Road! nom, nom, nom) and even sung a few songs. Thereafter, we caught the bus home and got to chat with a lovely gentleman all the way home. All was paradise until... We arrived home and commenced the lunch routine. Solomon turned on me! It was like being on an episode of Gordon Ramsey's [censored]'s Kitchen! There was screaming, crying and a tantrum, the likes of which you've never seen and when I composed myself I ended up just giving in to his demands...One Ella's fruit pouch and all of his toys laid out before him in the centre of the room. For those of you, who have never experienced a hungry pre-nap Solomon, just wait! [censored] has no fury... Any way, we are not back to our regularly planned program and I am happy my angelic little man has returned. I'd like to say a big thanks to the mums at the Woodlands Church Mum's and Tots group for making me feel so welcome. It's not easy being one of two dads in a sea of one hundred mums Catch me tomorrow as I try to orchestrate a day at the museum.
Welcome to the ramblings of a delirious daddy coming to the end of his day...
Mayday, Mayday, Mayday(Yes it is the 1st); The SS Daddy Daycare; Boeing 777 Aircraft; Is experiencing engine failure; The weather is terrible; the Pilot Robert Short intends to crash land on to his sofa and is requesting his co-pilot Jennifer Short take over; my present position is in the sitting room and I am heading horizontal(yes, to take a nap), if I become lost then don't come looking for me(and I'm not giving out my last co-ordinance); Altitude is about 2 feet off the ground and my attitude is poor; I have no fuel remaining and I will only last for a few more minutes; the number of souls on board were 2 but now mama bear has arrived home and has taken over, now we are 3 and I'm going to sleep...
Ok, yeah, Ok, yeah, yeah ok? So today was the longest day of all and I am glad that it is soon coming to an end. We started out the morning with a cuddles from mom just and a lovely family breakfast that was something out of a Norman Rockwell painting. I love it! It was all so civilized and peaceful. Mamma brought the balance back to our home but then the moment we all dread came; she went off to work and Solomon was, let’s say not too happy about that! I managed to assuage him with another one of the blessed Sesame Street videos! Did you know that you could say your ABC's to a gospel tune!!! We were singing and dancing in the aisles! Patti Labelle and India Arie you are muses! After getting things back under control we had a wonderful morning of play ending with Solomon climbing up into my lap, laying his head on my shoulder and then going to sleep(I dare not move for fear of breaking the peace). Then after an hour my hand began to cramp up from the one handed typing and he began to wake up. He and I went upstairs for a change of venue so we could play his drum and read a story. I'm not so sure what happened to the story reading part because half-way through playing the drum I invented a new game! Have you done Sleep Playing? Well, its where you lay on the floor with the intent of playing a game with your child but instead you fall asleep. Its amazing I think everyone should try it at least once Please don't judge me! Thereafter, we had a little snack and played some more. Then we set off to meet Solomon's arch enemy...yup you guessed it NAP TIME! He fought well but in the end the sandman overtook him. I ceased the opportunity and jumped in the shower and dressed myself. Ah, to be nice and clean and then he woke up immediately. I got him up and dressed (very quickly) to go into the city for lunch, a museum visit and to meet his lovely friend Ava (chops) Macqueen. Success! We made it in and had a wonderful time! The new exhibit, Jeremy Deller's English Magic was interesting. We only saw one section because the downstairs segment was in a room that was very quiet and Solomon was already testing out the acoustics of the building with random squeals and screams. After that we met the Macqueens at Jamie's Italian for coffee and bread sticks. We had so much fun. Solomon decorated the floor with bread sticks; I performed Baby Time Theatre for him when he got bored. For those of you who've never been to Baby Time it goes a little something like this: Talk in a bizarre high pitch voice to Solomon in order to make him laugh, lay my head on the table and peak at him through the glasses etc., play drop the bread stick on the floor for daddy to pick up again and again and various other games I'm sure you've never heard (For this performance I had to call on all my years of theatrical training!) Then we said our goodbyes and caught the bus home. All in all we had a very exciting day so much so that we both could hardly keep our eyes open during the 17 minute bus trip home. Mamma bear has come home to save the day and all is well with the world. We've had a lovely meal, bath and bed time. Now let the grown-ups chat and cuddle in peace;)
Hi there
Nice story but I think it would be better to keep all your blogs under one title so that it can be more easily accessed. If you like I can ask the mods to move all your posts into the one title.
Hello, That sounds nice but I haven't the slightest notion what that means. I have never done a blog before and I'm not sure what the benefits would be to keep them all under one title. I welcome any assistance you have to offer.
Kindest Regards,
Rob
If you reply to your own posts, it will create one continuous thread instead of a new one for each day - it makes for a continuous story. I've moved them all into a single thread now, so you can see what it's like.
Good stories though, Rob 🙂
Day 4 Daddy Day Care
Saved by an angel!!
OK, today should have been my 4th full day of Daddy Day Care but I was called in to work at the university. So this little message will be rather short because I only got to spend the morning with my little man. (Thank God for wonderful friends who come to the rescue when you need them!) Thank you Hannah for coming to take over Solomon watch while I went to work. I must say that I was a little nervous and unsure about it all. I was supposed to be looking after the young fella and here I was gallivanting off to the campus to do work (work in which I find fun). Where did this guilt come from??? Nonetheless, Solomon worked me over before I left. He must have sensed that I was trying to leave! We all got up to have breakfast with mummy and as usual it was lovely. Until, yup, on schedule (as mummy leaves for work) the tears and sorrow began! Oh and this time Sesame Street nearly didn't work!!!! No one told me that the effect would wear off! Now, I'm gonna have to create a new song and dance to keep him satisfied. I managed to calm him down and the rest of the morning was a breeze. With the exception of the chaotic scene that occurred when I put him down for his nap. He made me feel like a prison warden placing him in solitary confinement. Picture it! I went into his room to place the little lad in the crib and he instantly became stiff as a board and would immediately jump to his feet every time I tried to lay him down. He did all this while holding on to the edge of the crib, looking directly at me with huge crocodile tears in his eyes and yelling to the top of his lungs(making sounds that I am sure reach decibel levels that are considered noise pollution). How is it possible to get so much sound out of something so small? I'm amazed! I have even taken to calling him names like, Eagle Baby and Velociraptor! His screeching actually hurts my ears? How is that possible? Anyway, after about 5 minutes he went off to sleep and I went off to work leaving him with my friend. When I returned she told me told me that he was an angel all day! :huh: I could hardly believe it! However, I am happy he knows how to behave and isn't driving all of our friends away. Oh yeah, you notice I said all... Well, some of our friend have disappeared even though the little angle has only showed them love. I call this friend-baby-phobia! It doesn't happen often but the signs are easy to recognize.
Symptoms: Deer in headlight look when your child come near them, Deer in headlights look when you change the child's nappy(diaper for the Americans), Deer in headlights when the child is breast feeding and yes finally Deer in headlights look when you ask, ‘Do you want to hold him?’
It's actually very funny and I do understand. As far as they are concerned a baby is a ticking time bomb of pooh, puke, babble and unpredictability but I wouldn't trade mine for the world. See you next time when I try to take Solomon out to the park and to meet a friend of mine he has never met before.
very amusing 🙂 I know how your friends feel about the Deer in the headlights look - I had no problem with my own children, but threaten to give me someone else's - no thanks. Heaven help me when I'm a grandad :boohoo:
Day 5 Daddy Day Care
Wow, so this morning was amazing! We pulled it off. A successful goodbye from mummy and no tears! I love it when a plan comes together! Now we just need to master the art of naps and sleeping without World War 3. The rest of the day was lovely. We just had one little hick up! So, tell me this, what is the deal with infants and time warps! It seems like I am continually working to get everywhere on time but we hardly ever make it. It's like we are working in some alternate universe where 1 minute equals 10 minutes. So because of this strange phenomenon we missed our toddler group today!!! I'm rather torn up about that, mainly because I missed out on the amazing rocky-road that give out the parents but also because I missed out on a major time of socialization for the little man. I hope we make it next week. Instead we visited the John Wesley Chapel and then went into Starbucks for a coffee and lunch. I had the coffee and Solomon had his lunch. After that we went for a walk in the lovely sunshine. It was a nice day out with my little boy. I think I'm getting the hang of this?!?
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