Long weekends can be tough for me. I truly relish a full school week because I have so many things that need to be done each and every day, and last week was no exception. We've been having one hell of a Winter here in New York State, and the last round of bad weather included a nice coating of 1 - 4, or 6 inches of ice along our 400 foor driveway, and no warm weather to help me get rid of it. Last week was the start of a short lived, but loved warming spell. So each day, I'd go out for any period between 2 and 6 hours to clear ice. I was making some pretty good headway until Thursday, when I suddenly remembered that Friday was Parent/Teacher conferences. Damn, I lost a day.
As a result, my wife and I attended the Parent/Teacher conferences which cut into the day from noon until about 2 PM, so there was some mild entertaining of the boys with haircuts mixed in before we went to the school. When we got home from the conference, it was my hope to have them play outside while I worked at the ice issues on the drive, and my wife went about her work day from home. See this as Daddy trying to keep the boys away from Mommy while the old man worked outside... see where this is going? Thinking this might make Daddy a little cranky?
There were so many interruptions between the "Dad" calls, and the "he hit me" whinging, that Daddy has his best Grinch face on almost all afternoon. I'm trying to work, and keep them engaged in sledding, biking, scootering... whatever, but I'm also being completely selfish and wondering why these two 6 year olds can't keep themselves entertained and active, all while leaving me be to be miserable in my task.
Afternoon turned to evening, and we all settled in for a nice family Friday pizza meal, when Neal announced that his top front tooth was sideways, hurting and about to come out. He wants to eat his pizza, but the tooth hurts so much. Mummy to the rescue (Daddy doesn't like this kind of stuff), and the tooth comes out. The front tooth is a two dollar tooth fairy coup.
Bedtime comes, and the boys are fast asleep. Neal's tooth is tucked under his pillow. {Note: two weeks earlier, Matthew lost a tooth, and guess what? The T.F. forgot to come... wasn't going to let that happen again} Daddy's goal just before retiring to sleep is to removed the tooth, and slip the cash under the pillow while trying not to wake the boys . Mission accomplished, the cash has replaced the rotting tooth. As I completed the tooth fairy task, I did what I do every night. I looked at my boys, kissed them, and told them I loved them. But today was different. I was a selfish Grinch for most of the day, and I felt bad about it.
