My wife will be going back to work on January 12. Naturally, she is dreading it. As far as I can tell, the dread is less about having to work and all about leaving Charlotte. I’m sure every mother that returns to her profession after being with her child 24/7 feels somewhat the same way (I want to be clear with my stance of mothers who don’t return to their previous profession have the most important career there is and whichever path a mother chooses is her choice and should not be judged).
But back to the reason for this post. Since our daycare doesn’t start until February, we need to fill the void from mommy working and will be doing so with the help of Charlotte’s very generous grandparents as well as yours truly. It will be daddy daughter time for eight days in January! To say I’m very nervous is an understatement even though I’m super excited.
Luckily, I got a chance to test my solo parenting skills two separate days this weekend as my wife had some personal time (haircut and massage). Within 45 minutes of being on my own, I became the worst father ever…It started off fine. A quick nap in the swing for my baby and lunch for dad. Charlotte woke up so it was playtime on the mat. I took her to the mat, laid her down, and promptly followed suit. What I didn’t realize was that her little foot was directly under my knee. Smash…What happened next was horrible. It was like a slow motion movie montage. I looked down in horror to see my knee on her tiny foot. I jumped up and moved my attention to her face. Red face, mouth open, but no noise. I swear she was in that position for ages. Was she ok? Did I miss her knee by chance? Then, a shriek that pierced the eardrums. Another. And another...I reached for her foot and ripped her sock off. RED! OMG I BROKE HER FOOT. WHAT DID I DO?!?! With the shrieking continuing and tears flowing, I texted my wife I hurt our baby and she needed to call me ASAP (I'm sure that went over well). Google was next: "how do you know if your baby's foot is broken?" Answer: You're a terrible parent...I determined that her foot was not, in fact, broken, but the screaming and crying continued. This went on for about an hour so I eventually went for the bottle. Of course, I warmed it too much. Can't burn her throat! Still crying. I tested the temperature and then dropped the bottle. Milk spraying from the nipple...What else could go wrong? Not much. Finally, the bottle was cool enough, feeding commenced, crying stopped and mommy was home...
Thankfully, I had an opportunity to redeem myself this morning and it was a much different story. We played, talked, read a story, and even took a nap! This is how it should be. Mommy came home to a much different household. I even did the dishes. I'm ready for my daddy daycare duties!