Sometimes the lesson is better learned than told.
My children like millions of children across the United States are on Christmas break, causing all kinds of trouble to be had. So when I needed to leave the house this morning for the majority of the day, I was pleasantly surprised when a perhaps overly confident dad said that he could handle his two girls for the day. I gave him the tasks of feeding the girls two meals, playing games and making sure that the floors were not riddled with toys when I got home. Little that my husband knew, he was in for an experience to the wild west in all its glory in the forms of two elementary school aged children.
I was not out the door for two minutes when the first series of texts showed up on my phone. My dishwasher partial full, but all clean load was in need of being put away. The past eight years of the cabinets not being moved around was still a maze to behold for the poor man. Even more troubling was the toasting of two rainbow bagels with enough food coloring to color a Christmas tree. Once the dishes were put away and breakfast had now dirtied a couple plates, he moved on to calling the dentist. Our youngest had chipped a molar (very minor with no roots or insides exposed) and after several texts to me as well as emailing pictures to the dentist who reassured him that the kindergartner would be just fine although she scheduled him an appointment three weeks from now to make sure as the chip was not causing any pain to the baby tooth in question.
Then it was radio silence on the text messages for nearly three hours when they reappeared at a feverish pace. In his infinite wisdom, he had decided that a trip to one of the warehouse stores was just what the doctor ordered with the ladies just two days before Christmas. When they arrived, there was no carts to be seen and had to wait their turn for a buggy. Once a cart was in their grasps, they entered the store for my husband quickly learn that his daughters often have buyers remorse when getting samples and he may have eaten enough of the girls’ samples to cause him to no longer desire artificial lobster ravioli. A long series of texting about what he should and shouldn’t get pursued although grocery shopping was done for the week. Not that the warehouse wasn’t enough, he also took the ladies to the big box store on the way to fast food for lunch.
By the time that they had done all of their shopping, they arrived home after naptime which for my youngest is still main staple in her everyday routine. I was surprised that the floor was nearly clean as it only takes them ten minutes to drag out their toys and dinner was on the table when I arrived home. My husband had tamed the wild west today and deserved a medal!
