New Appreciation
Alright, the kids are back in school. I’m going to really get a feel for this whole stay at home dad thing this week. I’m gonna relax 3 days out of the week for a few hours while Cormac is in Moms Morning Out. I’m gonna play guitar, read some books, talk to all the other Moms, Dads, and Nannies who will totally love the novelty of new blood. Let my new routine begin. Before I get into that though, I knew this wasn’t going to be easy. I really respect Sarah for staying home with the kids and managing all the apartments. So much. I knew I could never do that alone and I tell her all the time how much I appreciate her and all that stuff. But OH MY GOD, I didn’t tell her enough. Not even close. It’s like day 2 of them being in school and I’ve never encountered psychopathy like this. There may already be a term for this but I ran across something I’m going to call a Transitional Meltdown. Unlike the Singular Meltdown which occurs when a child fixates on one thing that they can’t have for an extended period until they self destruct taking everyone down on their way, the Transitional Meltdown moves from one focal point to the next with continuous destruction along the child’s path. So it went for Ruth on Tuesday from school pickup down to the playground. Starting with not wanting to wear her helmet (I stayed strong all the way to the playground then broke down), shifting to how and where the picnic blanket was laid out, to where the food was laid out on the picnic blanket all the way back home; it was constant crying and moaning. I tried to ignore her for a while but had to stop because another parent thought she was a lost child. Thank god Sarah came down with Cormac and Marnie (yeah I only had 2 of 4 of them) to assist. I’m telling you, Monday this week was a dream. I took all 4 of them to the playground for 2 hours and they were angels. Tuesday was a complete fucking nightmare. I’m on day 2 of a real life week and I’m slightly terrified. I also have a completely different point of view of what Sarah has done for the past 6 years. I stopped working for myself mainly. At first I thought I wouldn’t want to go back for myself. Now I realize that I can’t go back for her. My deepest appreciation and sympathies for anyone who does this full time without support. Holy shit.
