Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Mr Mom

 As I've mentioned before I am going on a trip to visit my sister and her family in Nova Scotia tomorrow. I'm bringing my little sidekick, five month old Rudi Tootie. Alina is staying behind with her dad. So she is going to be in daycare full time for the week I am away. Which means; daddio has to step up his game.

  As a mom we just do a long of things without much thought or that aren't really noticed by dads. We make mental notes of items we see around the house. So when Alina asks where her 'credit card' is I can easily reply; 'in your owl purse on your peg in your room where you keep your house coat.' I know where everything is because I make tiny mental notes whenever I see her with items. 'Credit card' is going into the owl purse. She had the purse out for a day where she left it on the floor by the couch and then when I told her to put it away I noticed it hanging on the peg where she usually keeps it. It's kind of insane how many of those little scenarios are going on in my brain. Dads have their own qualities, like being insanely fun in any occasion, even stressful ones. But, they don't know how to answer those 'where is my....' type questions.


 Alina is used to me and how I parent. So she'll have to crack a whip when it comes to getting her dad ready for her in the morning. She already ran him through what needs to go in her lunch bag yesterday at dinner time. The mornings will take them a day or two to get into a nice groove but I have no doubt that they will accomplish it.
 I imagine Rob will do what needs to be done, when it needs to be done. No unloading the dishwasher in the morning (because he will forget to turn it on in the evening..), no feeding the fish (because he won't remember the fish exists until that evening when he's tucking her into bed.) or closing all the doors so that our Rumba "Gary" can clean the floors. It will be all he can take to have all of her things organized, packed and her dressed, hair done and teeth brushed in time for daycare and work. I guarantee Mr Mom will be able to pull off having her ready each day by doing the very bare minimum. And there's nothing wrong with that. I'm not writing this post to slam him by any means. It's just human nature of men and women. Moms and Dads are just very different kinds of people. The best part is that most families are designed to have one of each so that there is a nice balance to the parenting.


 I imagine the kitchen will be left in disarray and he may forget a few items of his own before he gets a good routine that works. Dads! They always pack A LOT of food in kid's lunches and the chunks of food are almost always cut really big. **Side Note: Does anyone else's husband or partner ever go to share a piece of steak or a scoop of food and it's always huge pieces or scoops?! I always have to get him to give me much, much less..!**
 But I do think Robert will do just fine without me. I know he's going to have a new found appreciation for what I do, which is always healthy for the relationship. We are rarely ever apart. I'm trying to think of the longest we've been away from the other and I can't see it being for more than a week. Rob is an exceptional husband and a complete treasure of a dad. He had Alina brainstorm ideas of what they were going to get into while Rudi and I are away. I looked at the list and it is impressive.
- Go swimming
- Go shopping and shop for a new bathing suit for her swimming lessons starting next week.
- Have a fire in the front yard and make s'mores.
- Ride her bike at the beach.
- Go to the movies of her choosing.
- Have a sleep over in our bed. This includes a fort that hangs from the ceiling and hovers over them like a canopy. He's already told me how he's going to do such a thing.
- Tubing at Mount Washington followed by clam chowder (Alina's favourite) and hot chocolates.
- Go out for wings on Wing Night Wednesdays.
- Go to the library. (I left her the library card and she has it in a safe place "so daddy won't lose it." Good idea Alina!)
- Watch hockey and eat pizza in the basement. (Her idea. She loves watching hockey with her dad during supper because that means she can eat in the living room.)
- Go to the park.
- Go out for brunch on the weekend.
- Go skating.

 He mentioned that he wants to do everything on the list because he wants to keep Alina happy and busy while I'm away. He also said that I do such a great job of keeping her entertained when he gets home from work that he's usually off the hook to watch hockey or complete projects or fix things around the house. He wants to make sure she's entertained and content. I like that. 
 Which means these two are going to busy. Alina keeps bragging to me that she's going to have so much fun and what am I even going to do in "Ova Scotia" while they're having such a good time. I assured her I would manage... somehow.

 To assist Mr Mom I'm putting together a guide to help him get ready with Alina in the mornings. I am going to switch to pure wife mode and write to Robert directly. (Feel free to skip over, this is really for his own personal use.)

 You have breakfast figured out just fine. Just keep on her about eating in a timely fashion because that girl can take foooorever to eat some days. 
 For her main lunch I always pack her left over supper. However, this could be challenging with all of the dining you plan on doing. SO! If you go out for wings - try to bring a few home and then throw together some cucumbers and snap peas or peppers chopped up along with it. If all else fails you could always whip up a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or a peanut butter pinwheel. (Click HERE to see what a pinwheel is and how to make it!) For her morning snack at daycare she has fruit. I usually cut up two to three different kinds of fruit and put in a container. (We have nectarines and plums that should be ripe by Thursday..!) In the bottom of her lunch bag she gets a yogurt tube or cheese stick. (Depending on her breakfast. If she gets yogurt for breakfast give her cheese.) I usually pack her a bar (granola or fig) but she's getting pretty sick of the fig bars. I pack something savoury/crunchy in a ziplock like a rice cake and seaweed or crackers and almonds. I bought yogurt covered raisins to pack as a little extra treat. Pack her a water bottle but don't fill it with water because it leaks when it's tipped over. In the front pouch of her bag there are extra socks and panties as well as a toque and mittens. (If they're not there then check her cube in your closet for spares.) If she's wearing short sleeves make sure she has a hoody or sweater packed. Her muddy buddy is sometimes left at daycare because she never uses it on the weekends. And Sheepy..! Try to remember to bag him as soon as you think of it. Alina usually reminds me about Sheepy as we're pulling out of the driveway so I imagine she'll do that to you and cause you to be late!!




 Once she's at daycare I always put her shoes on with her. Those are hanging from the back of the door going towards the bathrooms. Put her bag and coat on her hook. She has to put her name up and wash her hands before she gets to play. And yes, there is a sign up sheet that I sign her in and sign her out each day. They don't care that much if you forget (obviously since this is new to you, hehe.) She will be so excited to have you do all this for her at daycare. It should be cute. 

 In all honesty, Rob doesn't need such an in depth explanation but I figure I have the time to write it out, I might as well. I think the lunch making guide with pictures would be informative and kind of humorous. Rob is a total Super Dad and he'll have his own system figured out in no time.


 I am beyond excited to go but I'm also especially content knowing that Rob and his Mini-Me will be busy having a blast doing all the things on their list. And my Mini-Me and I will be having an equally fun time whooping it up on our adventure to 'Ova Scotia'...!!

And Rudi is all ready to fly his first plane..







.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

So since we last chatted I started seeing someone, moved in with him and got engaged! But I can totally appreciate this post from a partner stand point. I'm very much the Mama figure- I take note of where he puts his wallet when he walks in the front door and takes it out of his back pocket to fall into the sofa and sure enough at 7am the next morning he's asking if I've seen his wallet. But the same as Rob, I can see Chris being the best Daddy building things for the kids and rolling around with them while I pack lunches in my sleep. Such a cute post! Hope you are enjoying your trip!