When Jason's Away....

For the next few days Abby and I (and Bruiser and Nan) are on our own. This afternoon Jason boarded a plane and flew to sunnier skies for work. Whenever Jason goes out of town I always gain a healthy respect for single parents, and a deeper appreciation for how much he does to keep our family going. I'm usually a bit crankier, a tad more on edge, a little more off kilter.....oh, and a ton more organized. See, things that I don't normally have to "plan" for (like showers and getting Abby on the bus, among other things) suddenly require forethought. Our mornings have to run like clockwork, because there's no one that I can ask to help me find socks (matching or otherwise), pour a bowl of Cheerios, get her glasses washed, make sure she has everything for school, brush her hair, find a new program to watch, and the list goes on and on - all the while trying to get ready for work myself. As stressful as the mornings sound, with a few simple preparations everything is ready to go. The mornings aren't what I dread when Jason is gone, it's the evenings.

Today, as usual Abby was as sweet as could be after school. She even pleaded with me to go upstairs and cuddle with her - you didn't have to ask me twice. It's that time after dinner, when she starts to get tired that she begins to get a bit ornery (Don't we all?). This is when Jason is invaluable. He can make bath-time and bedtime fun! Usually Abby loves baths, but she has been a bit leery of them lately, because she knows that a band-aid change usually follows. Sure enough, at the suggestion of a bath she put the breaks on. So, me being the brilliant mother that I am (she says, dripping with sarcasm) I pulled out a bottle of bubbles and lured her into the tub with the promise of blowing bubbles. She was all for that, and I thought it would work wonderfully - until I handed her the bottle and she proceeded to dump the whole thing into the tub. I believe she thought the tub would serve as a great bubble reservoir - it didn't.

Okay, now time to improvise. Luckily shampoo produces lots of bubbles, but Abby is no dummy, and when those bubbles refused to stick to the bubble-blower stick, she quickly ran out of patience with the hair washing I was trying to give her. In the midst of a yell for me to stop dousing her with water, her band-aid (now soaked) lost it's stickiness, and its grip on her finger. Well, at least now the focus was off her hair - right?

She became fascinated with her band-aidless finger and began to cry that it hurt. I believe this was when I suggested we get out of the tub and call Dada. I finally got her out, dried off, dressed and even got her hair brushed and then we gave Daddy a call. She was so excited to see him on my phone and kept asking if she could go there too. After a good night kiss she settled down to cuddle and watch a short program before bed.

I'm happy to say that she is now sleeping soundly (after a few panicky moments when she wanted Dada, which resulted in two more calls to him). She finally snuggled in and by the end of Goldilocks and the Three Bears she was out. Whew - one night down, two more to go.

Abby's clothes are laid out (complete with matching socks) and her bag is packed for tomorrow. In a moment I'll pre-pack some lunches and get my clothes ready to go. The dog is laying by the couch and the cat is, who knows where (cats are weird like that). The house is quiet and the clock ticks softly behind me. I should enjoy this peacefulness, but frankly things are a bit too still for me. Like Abby, I miss Jason too. So, once my chores are done I also will require one more call to settle me in for the night, and then it's off to sleep - because mornings come quickly around here.

One thing that was really fun, was that Abby got
her first package from her "Pen Pal" today.

It contained a cool Bee skirt, a beautiful flower
made out of melted beads, and some wonderful
badges made by Lilia. They were so creative!
Abby got a gardening badge, a cookie making badge,
and a castle building badge - among others.
We quickly put them on her sash and she was happy to model.
Thanks Lilia! You're package will be heading out soon!