Expect the Unexpected
It’s been a crazy few weeks and my Mom had a medical emergency that caused me to drop everything to fly to her. Everything ended up as well as it could and she is still recovering (and doing well at it). She is a tenacious worker and doing her rehab, which is most likely where I (and my kids) get the gritty characteristic from. It was tough going through everything and it’s not all clear yet, but I’m grateful for how things turned out.
This was the longest I have been away from my kids and wife. I was gone for about 1.5 weeks and did not know when I would be back. I missed them a lot and my wife ended up needing help on the weekend, so I flew back to help out for a few days. Then I flew back down to be with my Mom and spent another week with her before flying back the following weekend to my kids and wife again.
While I was gone, I felt like my kids changed so much. My 1 year old son L is talking and learning so many words. He has preferences and tells you (and yells at you) when you aren’t following his wishes. He still remembers who I am, but he is definitely now attached to his Mommy (he was about neutral to me or my wife before I left). It’s been hard to adjust back to where things were so it will take a bit more time to earn back his trust to the point where he doesn’t cry when his Mommy leaves the room. Fast forward about 1.5 weeks since I got back and he finally did not cry when I took him for the night.
My 5 year old son C was mostly a saint when I was gone outside of a few dust ups and small bouts of not listening. He had been really into planes and made me one to bring on my trip. He colored the paper plan different colors, wrote his name on it, and drew a heart on the back so I remembered that he loves me. It was sweet and I still have that plane. I pulled it out to look at when I needed it.
My 6 year old daughter E tried her best to be the oldest sibling and help around the house. She did great and also had a few bouts of not listening, but that is to be expected at these younger ages. She got to share her room with both of her little brothers and they did a massive nighttime reading session each night while I was gone. It was L’s favorite time of the day and he runs into her room and tucks himself in. He says night night and gets ready to read. She loves having her brothers in her room (mostly) and has been holding down the kid fort.
My wife is amazing and held it together for a long time without me. I’m not exactly sure how she did it, but it all worked out. The kids had fun, they stayed connected with me through nightly chats on her phone, and we communicated a lot to tell each other what we needed and when. Even though things were stressful, she was my rock and the rock for our kids. Couldn’t have made it through this time without her.
We have had an up and down summer and although it didn’t go according to plan, thinking about my family makes me grateful for what I have today. That’s what I want to hold on to. Hopefully things will continue to trend up and I think they will.
