Missing Daddy

Darrius on the phone, talking to his Dad.

The last two weeks have been the longest two weeks of my life. Dear hubby is out of town, attending training for his new career adventure. And he has another week to go before he returns home. It's just been me and Darrius and it has been tough. I never realized how much easier life is when you have the second parent around. Hubby is Darrius' entertainment. I don't wrestle. I don't have the sports knowledge to talk about current basketball trades or who should be traded to where. I'm missing the Y chromosome that prevents me from relating to my son like his dad does. I'm the mom. I'm all about making sure he takes a shower, eats his dinner, changes his underwear, cleans his room etc. I'm not the fun parent. Dad is.



Darrius misses his dad terribly. The first week was tough. Darrius moped around. He constantly asked if Dad called. I actually think he was depressed. He went to bed at 8pm without being told! That really shocked me. Any other time I would have to start telling him to go to bed an half hour before his bedtime! And to make things worse, none of his friends could play outside which meant he was really looking pitiful. I felt so bad for him that I felt guilty about leaving for him for an hour to go to the gym! I didn't know what to do. I fired up the Wii and we played Mario Kart - our favorite game. But even Darrius got tired of that after awhile. Saturday we went putt-putting. That seemed to improve his mood. And then when we got back home, he received a text from one of his friends, asking if he could play outside. I was jumping for joy on the inside. Yes! Finally! Maybe this will get him out of his "I miss my dad" funk.



This week went much smoother. Less moping, not going to bed as early as last week. I don't know what to do this weekend. It would be so much easier if he was a toddler or a baby. When Darrius was around 4, Alfred had to go out of town for a week. To entertain Darrius, I bought Candy Land and coloring books and crayons and a couple of toys (a bribe for good behavior). Every evening we would play Candy Land over and over - until it was his bedtime. Even though I was tired of playing Candy Land, it was simple, it kept him happy and it made my life easier. I bet if I busted out that game now, Darrius would look at me like I'd lost my mind.



Darrius has already started the countdown til Alfred comes back home. I'm sure everyday he's going to remind me that it'll be x amount of days until Dad comes home.



One more week. I think I can make it.