Today was my first day off in quite awhile. I can’t even remember how long it has been since my last full day off and it was spent doing mostly parenting stuff. My wife and daughter are not feeling well so it was up to me to take the boys to school. I then did interview someone for an open position we have so I guess this actually wasn’t a day off but that isn’t visiting a pet and I stupidly only count pet visits as work.
After the interview I did get some gym time but then it was time to pick the boys up from school and then we drove in circles for a bit picking up dinner for the evening. Upon arriving home I wasn’t even in the door when lunch arrived as we had ordered pizza because I forgot we had leftover pasta in the fridge.
If you have ever eaten lunch with toddlers you’d understand that that is a kind of work in and of itself. One of the boys decided he loved the pizza dipping sauce so much he drank it and then licked the inside of the container until he was absolutely certain none remained.
After lunch I don’t remember what happened. I honestly have no memory at all of around 1 PM until 3 PM when I decided to take a shower. After the shower I looked up how to cooke dinner and realized I need to start cooking it as it was going to take a bit.
I put the roast in the oven and wondered around the kitchen asking the dishwasher to put itself away and then asked the dog to do so. Neither of them complied but eventually the wife came in and helped. I cannot stand how unready the kitchen is every night when it is time to cook dinner, but it will never be ready. The dishwasher is always running. It is never empty and either myself or my wife is always putting dishes away.
After dinner I cleaned up and then turned on the tv for the children. After about an hour it was time to go up to bed. The boys didn’t want to sleep because they are toddlers and would rather run around their bedroom pretending to be airplanes than sleep. Eventually they laid down but they only want to cuddle mamma so there is limited help I can offer at times as I am not mamma and if I try and cuddle them they scream for mamma louder.
Eventually the boys settled but then I checked on the daughter and she crawled right to me and was wide awake. I decided if she was awake she was going to watch The Witcher. Instead of watching it she stuck her binky in my mouth and blew raspberries until I was covered in spit. A few minutes ago my wife came and got her and I can hear her still wide awake upstairs. She will not sleep.
Today might have been a day off from work but it was far from a day off. Parenting itself is a full time job and more difficult than most of the ones that pay.
David Huzzard Writes 