Wordless Wednesday 10-05-11: Ryan’s 15th Birthday Breakfast
October 5, 2011 By
Single Moms and Dads, I Salute You
October 19, 2010 By
This past week has given me a whole new appreciation for single Moms and Dads. I do not know how you work, either in an office or at home, plus take care of kids, plus keep up with grocery shopping, meal prep, dishes, laundry, housework, doctor’s appointments, checking the homework, getting everyone to bed on time – it’s exhausting. Mentally and physically.
I am a terrible housekeeper, that’s no secret. I can’t prioritize the work and so I just let it go as long as possible. I’m trying to delegate chores to the kids, but yesterday Ryan was standing next to me rinsing a dish at the sink and I noticed he looked really sad. I asked him what was wrong and he of course said “nothing”. I said “honey, you know you can talk to me any time about any thing. Is everything okay at school?”
“Yes.”
“Everything okay with your friends?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, then what is it?”
He heaved a sigh and said “it’s just so stressful here at home.”
Oh. OH.
Now, this is a kid who is more than happy to help out around the house. But without realizing it, I had been piling more work on him than he could really do, and he was trying hard to keep up with my requests without complaining, but it had just gotten too much for him.
I’m just glad he said something. I put my arms around him, which isn’t easy since he’s a foot taller than me, but I pulled his head down towards mine and kissed his scratchy cheek (14! razor stubble at 14! who knew!) and told him I was sorry. “I’m so sorry, Ryan”, I said. “I”m so, so sorry.”
He nodded his head. “I love you”, I said, and kissed him a couple more times on his cheek. “I love you too”, he said.
I’m lucky. So, so lucky.
I’m hanging in there by my fingernails as far as the house is concerned. Everyone is wearing clean clothes today, but I think the boys had to hand-wash spoons this morning to eat their cereal. There’s toilet paper, but the bathroom floor is in desperate need of sweeping and mopping. The kitchen floor – well, probably best not to look too closely at the kitchen floor.
I go to Sparrow Weight Management this afternoon for the start of Week Two on the program. It includes a weigh-in. I’m terrified they will tell me I haven’t lost any weight. I feel lighter, my jeans are buttoning without digging into my stomach flab, but scales can be tricky things. If it’s two pounds, I guess that’s two pounds less than last week, and I still have 23 weeks to go. I’m trying to not worry myself into a high blood pressure situation like last week.
Anyway, I’ll wrap this post up by once again saying BRAVO, Single Moms and Dads. You are unsung heroes.
Dad plus daughter plus public restroom equals chat with police
May 21, 2010 By
Last Monday, Chris worked from home. In the afternoon, he took Kaitlyn to a nearby park to play. This park has two play structures, a newer one near the front and an older one near the back, and a bathroom building. When Kaitlyn needed to go potty, they were at the front playground, so he put her in the car and drove her to the back of the park to go to the bathroom.
Chris has a policy of never taking Kaitlyn into a men’s bathroom, because they are always filthy. He doesn’t even like the boys going into them. So, Chris took Kaitlyn into the women’s bathroom just long enough to help her up onto the potty, then he stood outside the building waiting for her to finish. When she called to him that she was done, he went back in to help her wash her hands, then they got back in the car and drove back to the front of the park.
Kaitlyn ran off to play and Chris started chatting with another Dad that was there with his daughter, and as they were sitting there, a police car pulled up. The officer got out and walked right up to Chris. “Sir”, he said, “is that little girl over there your daughter?”, pointing to Kaitlyn. “Yes”, Chris said.
Someone had CALLED THE POLICE to report a suspicious man coming out of the women’s bathroom with a little girl and putting her into a car. A happy, skipping, smiling little girl who was then driven BACK TO THE PLAYGROUND to continue playing after using the potty. The person who called the police apparently forgot to KEEP WATCHING the SUSPICIOUS MAN to see what he did with the little girl after putting her in the car.
Not only that, but all the cop did is ASK Chris if he was Kaitlyn’s father. Wouldn’t a kidnapper or molester or whatever just say oh yeah sure, I’m her Dad? The cop didn’t ask Kaitlyn to point to her Dad or anything. How did he know Chris was who he said he was? I guess I’m glad the police took the call seriously in case something suspicious was going on, but it still bugs me.
I’m not faulting the police, what makes me angry about all of this is that I live in a society where a man with a little girl can be so easily pegged as suspicious. Dads take their daughters out places, and those daughters have to go potty, what is the Dad supposed to do?
I took my boys to lots of parks when they were little, and took them in and out of bathrooms, and no one ever called the police on me. And yet a woman could just as easily be a kidnapper or molester. I’m angry FOR my husband, that he would have to explain himself while enjoying an afternoon at a park with his daughter. I’m angry that someone glanced at Chris standing outside that bathroom, or coming out of it with Kaitlyn, and thought OMG I NEED TO CALL THE POLICE.
Has anything like this ever happened to your husband or significant other? Would you have called the police if you’d seen a man come out of a woman’s bathroom with a young girl, if the situation was the same as I described? I’d really like to know what you think about this.
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