Hello there! I write this as I travel from Birmingham to London for a two day conference. That means I’m leaving my very pregnant wife at home with a 7 year old, and a 2 year old. Am I nervous? Yep. Fingers crossed the OddBaby decides to stay put for now.
In all fairness, I spoke to Mrs OddFather about this extensively. If she told me to stay, I would have. I mean, she’s probably just fed up of having me around the house. Which is great, because after the next couple of days she’s stuck with me for a long while.
Her reasoning for me not staying put is that the OddSon was four days late. The OddDaughter was four days early, but that was because she was induced. So, Mrs OddFather’s view is the chances of the OddBaby coming more than a week early are very slim. Which is to say, we’re ok… Famous last words?
I shouldn’t be surprised by Mrs OddFather’s attitude to being pregnant. We have been here before. But in general she is still go, go, go. She’s still planning on meeting her friends for an evening out in the next week! And she was planning on booking tickets to take both the kids to the SnowDome on her actual due date!
The SnowDome, if you’re not aware, is an indoor place where they litter the floor with artificial snow and plunge the temperature to freezing.
Definitely not something that I am interested in. So naturally, the only way to stop Mrs OddFather from going was by promising I would take the kids instead at some point over the winter.
I suppose I should get up and stay active – talk about sympathy symptoms for my pregnant wife – yesterday I was standing there minding my own business and the OddSon came up to me and said “Daddy belly got baby?”.
Thanks mate.
I’ve been spending more and more time with the OddSon the last few months. I see him becoming more like me. For better or for worse. Whenever I walk into the open plan kitchen, he sees me and immediately goes to the fridge, opens the door, and stares at what he would like to indulge in. Chip off the old block.
The Oddson’s personality is really developing. He’s developing a wicked sense of humour and has a contagious laugh that makes it difficult to keep a straight face. The other day he threw a tennis racket that landed on my foot – I reacted in pain, which he found funny, which in turn made me laugh, so I was unable to play ‘Bad Cop Dad’.
He went through a regression in his toilet training recently which drove me a little mental. By ‘a little’ I mean A LOT! It nearly pushed me over the edge. There were moments when I genuinely wondered whether we’d ever see the bottom of a pair of dry pants again. His, not mine… That’s a battle I gave up a long time ago.
But he’s back on track now.
The kids absolutely exhaust me but energise me at the same time. It’s hard to put into words. Does any other parent get what I mean?
For that reason, I was looking forward to a night away, to recharge my batteries as much as I can. But the fact I left home before the kids woke up and won’t be back until the kids are already asleep tomorrow saddens me. I hugged and kissed them both loads yesterday at bedtime, as if I was going to be away for two months, not two days.
Human nature can be very strange. Right now it feels as if I can’t live with or without the kids. Someone should really write a song about that. Preferably Irish.
