The First Day's Always the Hardest

I can certainly say that the first day of business trips is always the hardest around here. I had no idea, however, that this one would be as hard as it was. Our day started at the most unearthly hour of 3 am, when we had to get everyone one up and into the car, so that we could arrive at the airport by 5 am. Have I mentioned that I am, in no way shape or form, a morning person. Oh yeah, I hate mornings with a passion-- especially those that begin before the hour of 7 am. Thankfullly though, the boys were amazing and got up without any fighting or even grumpiness. They were VERY excited at the idea of driving Hubby to the airport.


Now it should be noted that, at this point, I have been secretly crying on and off for the last twenty-four hours. I am sure that I'm not the only person who, in the face of loosing their best friend for the next 8 weeks, and being left to parent three small kids alone, would sneak into their bathroom and let out a few tears.

That aside, we made it up to the airport, and enjoyed a relaxed wait until it was time for The Hubby to leave. Everyone gave kissies and happily waved good bye, and then back out to the car we went for the drive home. By this points it's around 7 in the morining, and my kids have decided that, since the sun is starting to come out, it's time to stay awake. Running on about 4 hours of sleep, I bravely battled the joys of rush hour traffic coupled with 2 hours of their non stop talking about India.

It was only when we got home did they finally realise that daddy was gone, and would not be home for a long, long time. Sheepie couldn't have been bothered less and blissfully went off to play trains and Boy was thankfully, sound asleep (one of the last times that day he would be!); Frog Prince, however, was smacked with a huge dose of 'I miss Daddy' and completely melted into a puddle of tears in my arms. I explained to him that it was okay to feel sad, and to cry, and that Daddy loved him very much and missed him too, but that Daddy didn't want him to be sad while he was gone, and that it would make Daddy feel much better if he knew that Frog Prince was having fun while he was away. This seemed to do the trick for a while, but only on the condition that he got to write The Hubby a letter that afternoon. When tears started springing back up a few minutes later, we decided to make The Hubby a picture that he would find in his inbox durning his layover.

Now, as much as I'd love to say that the day ended there, and since we'd all gotten up at 3 in the morning, we curled into our bed, we all know that wouldn't make an interesting post-- now would it? So After taking the picture and uploading it, off we went to make a 9:15 Visiting Teaching appointment I had for church. Again, the boys surprised me by playing quite well, despite being exhaused. After VTing, it was off to the Dollar Tree to buy stuff for my nursery class.

Upon getting out of the car, Sheepie tells me he needs to go to the bathroom, so quickly we walk into the store where I ask the girl at the counter for the key to the bathroom. Her answer, "No." I'm sorry, what? Can you not see that I am standing here with two preschoolers and a baby in my arm-- one of whom is doing the 'potty dance'-- and you tell me no? Apparenlty, after prodding for more answers, their toliet was broken, so the closest bathroom was in a near by Albertsons. Thankfully my friend who I planned on shopping with was entering the store at that moment, so I foisted Frog Prince on her and ran with Sheepie next door to the bathroom; lugging Boy, in his carrier, with me.

The rest of the day was pretty low key. Frog Prince had several melt downs (as did his mommy) and finally passed out in his bed around 3 in the afternoon. Sheepie likely would have kept going all day, except that I banished him to bed to at least rest. He too finally passed out. While the boys slept, I dyed my hair. It was something I've wanted to do since before Hubby left, but I promised him I would wait. Sadly, the colour turned out WAY not what it supposed to, and it is too light. If it actually looked like it did in the picture in real life, I'd leave it, but it looks much more pink to me, in real life. And frankly, pink hair's not for me. So I am going to try a slightly darker shade.

We had pizza for dinner to cheer everyone up, and then it was time to pick up. Frog Prince was once again having a hard time adjusting, and from where I was checking my email, I could hear him yell meanly and then hit Sheepie. Once again we had to talk about how it was okay to be upset, and to even feel mad that Daddy was gone, but that it wasn't okay to show that by being mean to another. That if anything,we needed to love each other even more while he was gone, so that we could be happy. I think he understood because I heard him go back out and tell Sheepie he was sorry and he didn't mean it, he was just mad that Daddy was gone.

After scriptures and prayers, everyone headed off to bed, where once again F.P. started crying. I decided this time I'd let him just cry it out (after all, some times we just need to cry). And I went and tried to find whatever I could to keep busy until I could make sure he'd fallen alseep. I ended up watching a couple old episodes of THE OFFICE, and then once everyone was tucked safely into bed, I too went to sleep. I have hope that it will get eaiser, because afterall, they say the first day's always the hardest.