Last weekend lasted four days. I took off Thursday and Friday since my Ex had to go out of town. It seemed like a glorious opportunity to relax. It was not to be.
Oh, sure, Thursday afternoon was good. But life soon intruded. Mister had a concert that night (cello) and so I had to quickly make dinner and get Mister to school. There was no hitch in the plans the way there was last year in the race against time to buy a white shirt, dress belt, and black pants for Mister (we barely made it on time after getting the last pants and shirt at the second store we went to). But Mister did need black shoes this time. Luckily, a pair of shoes I no longer use actually fit Mister, so he was good to go with dress shoes.
I was again amazed at how much better than the 6th graders the 7th graders are. One year of practice sure makes a difference between a recognizable melody and strangling cats.Then I got to put together lunch for the kids (I rarely have to do that) and feed Swimmy, the fish, at my Ex's house.
Friday is the day that the pace of the weekend became apparent. I had no down time since I went on Mister's field trip to Hill Auditorium to see a painful body band performance geared to children. Funny enough, Lamb was there too on a field trip, but I didn't know that's where she was going. I helped direct students to and from the buses and otherwise showed my face at the school, That's never bad. I had about an hour and a half to myself and then it was time to pick up children from schools and begin the evening of fish feeding and dinner, and whatnot.
Oh, and we had to go out and get a present for Lamb's classmate since we had a party to go to on Sunday. Luckily, as I asked, Lamb found out what her friend likes.
Saturday was the day of the game against Purdue. Ah, it was such a great day for a football game and we had high hopes walking to the stadium! It was a fine day to be at a Michigan game.
Alas, it was not to be. I can't believe we let that game slip away. We didn't collapse, since we had a chance to tie it up and then one last chance to somehow close the two-point gap, but the game should have been ours. Mister was despondent. My famous "perspective" was unwanted, so I just let him vent his misery on the way home.
The walk is always longer if we lose. At least our home record is much better than our away record this year. And the evening was subdued. I get over a loss pretty quickly. You know, that "perspective" thing I have. But I always feel worse for Mister, knowing how important it is to him.
Sunday was the day of the great Build-a-Bear birthday party. Lamb was insistent that I take her even though mom was finally home from her trip. I think Lamb sees me as an ATM. Not that I spoil her with toys. I just don't buy toys as a matter of habit when we're out. Indeed, it is rare. But since I took her to Build-a-Bear for her own birthday a scant couple weeks ago, I think she associated me with paying for bears. Not that it cost us anything (well, other than getting a bigger present than I'd normally spring for since I figured Lamb would come home with a free bear), but Lamb didn't realize that.
So I left Mister at home to avoid the little girl-fest, and Lamb's mom took the chance to do some mall shopping while I hung out at the party. It was a hit with the girls, and Lamb now has "Cookie" (the bear) to keep "Pinky" (the unicorn) company:
The girls all got to put a fabric heart of their own into the bear of the birthday girl. It was that sweet.
My wisdom in leaving Mister at home was verified as we left the store to go to a common area in the mall to open presents and eat a cookie cake. Two quiet and sullen looking teens were slouched in comfy chairs when the parade of bear-wielding elementary school girls in various shades of pink and purple party finery skipped into their world. I swear I only looked away for a moment and when I looked back, the boys were already out of sight. So I flipped their chairs around and we had a nice leather chair amphitheater for the final phase of the party. It was, of course, a hit with the girls. Surely, another trip to the place will be in store for me this Christmas.
The final phase of the busy weekend was a tour I booked on Friday when I realize that my Ex would be home Sunday. I've wanted to take Mister on an Alumni Association tour of Michigan Stadium for a couple years now but it never quite worked out. but knowing my Ex would not be at work on Sunday, I worked it out for me to take Mister on the tour. The 3:00 tour, the last of the year, was open, so I grabbed two spaces. At the time I thought it would work out great with plenty of time after the party and after what I assumed would be a happy occasion of a victory on Saturday.
On Saturday, Mister did not want to go on the tour. And on Sunday he was less than enthusiastic. But I insisted. A young Wolverine fan needed this, I figured, more than ever.
So we drove down there and listened to an interesting talk by an author of a book on the building of the stadium. Mister liked it so much that I bought him the autographed book when we got a chance.
The best part for me was running on to the field, which we got to do through the tunnel that our players use:
And then getting on the field itself. Wow! It's just so big down there--especially side to side. Mister was happy as a clam, in his reserved sort of way. Boy did he like being out there. It was a beautiful day for the tour. We even ran goal line to goal line, and when Mister tried to claim he beat me, we ran it again. Yeah, dad won. He may be a hair shy of being as tall as me already but the old man can still sprint faster than the kid.
Then we got to go in the locker room. ("Look," I said in mock reverence while waving my hand, "the urinals of the players.")
We heard brief words from a quarterback under Bo who hadn't been back in the locker room since his player days. He got emotional explaining how important Michigan was to him and the opportunities he had from graduating from here. Yeah, this is what a young Wolverine needed to hear.
And the tour had gear from some of the players out. Mister tried on the gear of Forcier and Minor:
He was amazed at how heavy the helmet was. Sure. That's how I felt about the steel pot and Kevlar things. It was a relief to take the bloody things off.
We got the book here, and when the tour was over, we headed back to the car. Mister really liked the tour. It was what the doctor ordered, no doubt about it. I highly recommend the tour if you get the chance.
So a long weekend was essentially over. All I had left was a trip to Steak and Shake for less-than-healthy dinner with Mister and Lamb (which, as Mister noted, is a little unsettling with the height guide by the door so the cameras can record the height of criminals fleeing the scene), and then took the kids back to mom's.
I do indeed love being a dad, but man it can tire a guy out. going back to work was almost a relief.
Of course, I did run into an old college friend, Anu, at the tour with his son (and a friend of his son's I think). I haven't seen him in a few years, and I got his email and a resolve to get a bar night up and running again at least a little bit. So next week we're scheduled to hoist a few and catch up. Hopefully we get a good turn out since it has been a while.
The four days was a blur of activity, it seemed. But I know that it will be no time at all before the kids are grown up and they don't need me to take them to tours or parties or go on field trips, or even make or take them to dinner. Being a dad is such a great thing that I don't know how I'll adjust to the less intense and involved role of a dad when Mister and Lamb are all grown up. The time to that day will fly, I fear. And then my weekends and even weekdays will no longer be scheduled to wear me out.
But we aren't there, yet. I'll enjoy the job description and schedule of dad/daddy while I can.
