"Oh, that sounds like a great idea!" I said. "You will get to know some of the guys and relax. You work so hard, you deserve a respite. When do you leave?"
As the days came and went (that sounds like it was winter turning to spring turning to summer, but it was really six days or so) the children and their antics got me a little anxious about his fishing trip. I am the mother of two psychos under the age of five (well, they are sometimes). For every angelic moment there is a mischievous one waiting in the wings. Perhaps I have just spied on Gabriel saying to Ethan, "I love you, little brother." They hug. I feel all warm and cozy inside, tear up a little. I feel proud to have raised two such adorable boys. Not even minute later, Ethan has bitten Gabriel for no apparent reason and in a fit Gabriel chucks Ethan's tippy cup and pegs him square in the forehead. I feel a twinge of guilt, "what have I done to produce two such evil little beings?" Then there is the voice of reason trying to chime in, "kids will be kids - if they weren't like this they wouldn't be normal." At which point the voices in my head start screaming in an effort to drown out the voice of reason because you can't tell a mother about nature vs. nurture.
If one of my sons grows up to be a Dr. just so he can participate in Dr.s Without Borders, I'm sure its because I did something right. Conversely, if one of my sons grows up to run a chop shop and keep a part time gig in a restaurant for "tax purposes", well, it's definitely a result of something I did wrong whilst rearing that child.
What was I talking about again? Oh, yeah - the fishing trip. So Brandon originally planned on leaving Friday after work. He didn't see the kids at all on Thursday so he decided to take Friday off, spend some time with them, then head out to the cabin. Friday rolls around, he sleeps in a bit. Then around noon the kids start screaming at each other and wrestling in the middle of the kitchen. Brandon's eyes dart around the room. He's looking for an escape. I can tell, and really - at that moment, I can't blame him. Then he announced that it might be a good idea to get to the cabin a little earlier than everyone else to set up camp and blah blah blah.
I'm not going to lie. I was a touch jealous. Not a lot, just a touch. My turn will come one of these days ...
Within moments of his departure, Gabriel slammed the back door - it just needs to be slammed to close all the way, he wasn't being a punk or anything. We have these mini blinds on the back doors. How do I describe them, they are installed between the panels of glass - if that you gives you a visual. When Gabriel slammed the door, it was one slam too many. It was the slam that broke the miniblind camel's back. The whole piece of door came crashing down to the floor. At this point I decided that the next time Brandon says he was invited on a fishing trip, I should find a sitter and come along! I was convinced this fallen door panel was going to be a metaphor for the way the entire weekend was going to turn out.
It wasn't. I must have done something right, because my little punks have been little angels. They went to bed without a fuss and when I went to check on them, they were sleeping together, on the bottom bunk - so cute! After blog stalking I went to bed. I really missed Brandon. I didn't think I would. We have taken separate vacations before and I missed him a little but not like I did last night. I laid in the bed and watched a House rerun, then an Iron Chef rerun, then another rerun - I don't even remember what show. I thought about how if Brandon were there, we would be watching three shows at once and I would be so annoyed with that - but for whatever reason I wished he were next to me, flipping through the channels and driving me nuts. C'est l'amour. Before I knew it, Ethan came into my room and crawled up next to me, he laid as close to me as he possibly could without laying on top of me. Then, a few minutes later, Gabriel crawled up next to him. It was so sweet!
Today they were good boys with a dash of rowdy. My mil and fil took them to the movies to see Bedtime Stories (aren't they wonderful? they did this just so I can have alone time)- and at the same time I went to see Marley and Me. Then we all came back to my house and I fed everyone some homemade potato soup. We sat by the fire and played farkel and drank coffee. The boys were exhausted and in bed, asleep by 8:30!
Here are some scenes from our day...
Ethan napped, I worked out, and Gabriel "worked" on the Leap Pad. I work out in my office and he sat in there with me- we were still together, just doing our own thing, quietly. A mother's dream come true!
Ethan helped me do laundry.
Even though it is in the dryer this picture reminds me of the Spin Cycle.
So I think the next time Brandon wants to go fishing I'll just say, "Have a good time! I hope you come home refreshed, you deserve a break!"
4 comments:
your day will come...maybe we should plan a girls day out or something like that. but hey, at least the boys were wonderful for you while brandon was gone. And to that I say, "rhhudd-dud-dud-du-du!!! Nailed it."
I love the picture of Ethan in the dryer! He is just getting cuter and cuter! Also, love the new layout. Very swank posh.
How DO you did it, Ms Rebecca?!
There's so way the kids and I would all survive a weekend without J. ;)
The dryer pic is awesome! You deserve a break too though...hubs and I usually each get one weekend a year. I'm getting two this year but I figure it's a payback for the years I didn't! I'm so glad it went well for you!
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