Second Wind

Posted on Sat 11/21/09 in Fatherhood

I’d like to take a moment to thank my wife for keeping nap time alive. I’m not sure what her trick is, as most parents with two kids our age recall nap time as a dismal, distant memory.

Despite my work days starting early and being non-stop until the children go to bed in the evening, I’m only co-managing the kids for several hours. I’m worn out, but not like when it’s time for the one-man-band. While my wife is in St. Pete running a half-marathon, I’m solo with both of our little darlings. This morning, they were both up by 6:15, rearing to go, and I was not.

We had breakfast, did a huge dinosaur puzzle, relived Halloween (yes, including the Wolverine claws), had a dance party, made movies on JibJab, made our weekly veggie juice, played connect 4, brushed teeth, washed face, got dressed, and was off to the ball park. While my wonderful neighbor let McKenzie come play with her girls, I still helped coach ten 4-year-olds playing a goalie-less version of soccer.

By, 2pm, I had put in my eight hours. I was hurting. And then….. NAP TIME. I imagined, briefly and with anxiety, that the kids weren’t going to nap for me today; the next six hours would be rough. I don’t think I had it in me. Kenzie went down without a fight (as usual), and Ethan did the same (well, I bribed him with a lollipop). I sank into the couch to watch the Canes take a victory, as I thanked my wife and pitied all those moms and dads summoning their second wind.