These last few weeks have brought on a lot of changes for our family. I’ve had the opportunity to go back to work part-time (a part-time teaching gig, heck ya!) I was excited to be given this opportunity, however it’s been a big change. Jack has started Mother’s Day Out 2 days a week, and is going to someone’s home once a week. A couple weeks ago Jeff watched Jack for the day while I went to an in-service. He’s watched Jack plenty of times on the weekends and evenings (he would call this babysitting…) but never for the whole day when I’m unable to come help if I needed to.
Jeff wanted to write about how his day went, and I thought it was pretty funny, so here you go!
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Alarm goes off. Have to get up early and help mom get ready for her first big day back at school. Coffee and biscotti for her – check. Cold brew for me. It’s 7 and Jack is still asleep, what to do. Make to do list of things to accomplish for the day. #1, call AT&T. A week and a half with no cable or internet is too many days, hours or minutes – especially without the Olympics. After multiple calls during that time period, a technician is finally coming out from 1-4 this afternoon. According to Mom’s schedule, that’s right after lunch time. Or is it right after nap time? Man, there are a lot of factors in this schedule.
In the meantime, Jack’s up. Mom, thanks for your help changing poopy diaper number 1. Heard her say for months Jack is a once a day pooper – I may be in the clear. Now, it’s time to eat. Jack gets a tasty looking blend and some banana. I get the rest of the banana. Mom is off – good luck. You look so cute on your first day back.
Wow she really trusted me enough to leave. This is really happening.
What should we do now? Well, it’s only going to get hotter so let’s go outside. You could give Jack 10 toys and he would still play with a household item – what a practical guy.
Plus what a good idea, we need to water mom’s “garden” (a woman with many skills but we still have room to grow here).
Story time is it at 9:30. I am excited about this experience and don’t want to miss it, but it’s 8:30 so we have plenty of time for a short walk – Ruby-Girl deserves it. We had to stop in the park to practice our wave. Well, we need more practice.
We check in on Bloomberg news, markets are up but we are going to have to go back to work tomorrow. Better enjoy this.
Walk took a little long. Need a quick diaper change and head to the library. Nothing about this is quick. I decide it is best to throw some shorts over Jack’s “pajamas”. This will save me from the lecture later on taking Jack in public in his pajamas. Look at that, it’s 9:30. We are going to be late for story time.
We missed story time. But, we made it to the post story play session. VICTORY. Somebody give me a medal. I didn’t know what to expect at story time. Jack was tired, but he played. Mostly with whatever toy the child in front of him was playing with. I was tired, so I watched. Mostly like everyone else.
It’s 10:30 and mom is calling. Oh no, it’s supposed to be nap time. She sounded impressed that we made it. We decide it is best to head home.
At home, we discover poopy diaper number 2. He has now exceeded expectations, but no blow out so everyone handles it ok. We start the nap routine – noise machine, sleep sack, and a couple of books. Of course, the mail gets delivered. Ruby freaks out. Mom says this is how it always happens and exactly how they show it in Marley and Me – great movie. I decide to let him cry for a little bit.
When I go back in, it smells. No way. Poop #3. “Dad Day” must have really gotten his stomach riled up.
We call off nap time and opt for lunch instead. This makes him happy which is a joy to see. I love food too, so I scarf some toast down in between his constant demands for more food. He never asks for more with the sign language we’ve been trying, though. Must be my teaching skills…
By the time the meal is over I can tell he is getting fussy. We break back over to the bedroom and before I finish getting the sleep sack on he is starting to pass out. I think this is going to go well. At 12:15, he is out. From what I can tell, he looks out for the long haul. I want internet, but please don’t come early AT&T (wo)man.
I clean up the food mess, check a couple more boxes off my to do list, and man my post on the couch to calm Ruby in case a car drives down the street. An hour goes by. I can’t wait to brag to mom about it. AT&T man calls, says he will be there in 20 minutes. I think an hour and twenty minute nap is more than acceptable by Jack’s standards (See previous post here, I wouldn’t say I love it…).
Gent from AT&T comes, Jack inevitably wakes up. He is fussy for a bit. He eventually comes around and we are crawling room to room.
AT&T guy says he can’t fix the problem and is going to call a line technician to come out – probably not until tomorrow. Man, I am not going to get all my tasks completed.
I need more coffee. We are probably going to have to increase our supply of cold coffee. I decide we need to get out of the house, but before we do, Jack crawls over to his high chair and climbs up. I won’t lie, I am not sure where we are supposed to be on the schedule so I figure this is probably a good indication that he is willing to eat more. He takes down a jar of prunes.
We are ready to run our errands and the AT&T line technician shows up. Says we don’t need to be there and he will have it fixed by the time we get back. Bonus. We take some things back to a store, or as mom likes to call it… “making money”. We talk to mom. She is headed home. We have to beat her back. We have one more stop to make at Whole Foods. We get some flowers. I had a good day and I think Jack had a good day, but I am confident that it was tough on mom being gone from her boy for the whole day on her first day back at work. Maybe, this will help.
We get home. We get the flowers home and mom comes home. She might have liked the flowers but she didn’t have too much time to notice. She had to focus on cuddling with her boy. That was all that mattered!
All in all, I had a great time. Jack was great. We didn’t smile and laugh as much as I would have liked. There is something about when you are there for the whole day and have a schedule that you need to stick to that is inherently not as laughable as when you come home and get to play. Also, I have to say it’s hard to stay on a schedule. We were pretty much behind on everything and, of course, that’s ok.
//Play-by-play and photography skills credited to Jeff Vestring, Father Extraordinaire// I’d also like to point out that my day was made when he sent these little picture updates throughout the day. I mean, that one on Ruby’s dog bed! Too funny!
makeeverydayOK 
This is the sweetest thing. I really enjoyed reading it! Bravo Jeff!!! Ya’ll are both knocking it out of the park at being parents to sweet baby Jack.
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