"Isaiah's really having a hard time with me being gone, isn't he?"
Yes, dear. He is. Micah is too. Both the big boys are really starting to show the effects of missing their Daddy. He spends four hours in the car driving to and from work most days, so we usually don't see him until about 7:00 at night. Considering the boys go in to read their books and get ready to hit the sack at 7:45, that really doesn't leave much time for them to really enjoy their time with Daddy as they would like. He's actually started taking over the reading books and bedtime duties on most night simply because it's one of the few times they get him just to themselves and quiet frankly, I am usually DONE by the time Evan finally rolls in at night.
The mornings aren't much easier anymore. For the last week or so, I've had to start off each and every day by calming down Micah's hysterical screaming as he comes into my bedroom and wails, "Where Daddy!? Where Daddy!?"
Both of them have really started to act out as well. For example, today Isaiah got up from his nap and immediately asked for fruit snacks. For one, we don't have any fruit snacks, so it was a pretty easy call for me to say no. He started stamping his feet and launching into a fit, screaming "But I WANT some!!" Try as I might to explain that the fruit snacks were all gone, he insisted that "Daddy lets me have dem all da time!"
Great. By the time we were done and he was in his room to calm down from his tirade, I was dying for a can of Diet Pepsi or perhaps something deep fried and smothered in chocolate. And this wasn't an isolated incident either. Micah's been on the war path as well, but I don't want this to end up being a list of complaints.
I'm just glad I'm not the only one who has noticed what a toll this is starting to take on my sons. They miss their Daddy. They miss him so very much. All day I field questions about whether or not they'll be able to play Mario Kart with Daddy when he gets home or maybe go outside and play Frisbees with Daddy. They just love him to pieces and are absolutely craving time with him.
And now we have another trip to China coming up. Seventeen days without Daddy home. God help me. I promised Evan I would make a concentrated effort to be more positive about his China trips because I know that these trips are part of his job and I am extremely grateful for his job. I understand that he really has no control over it and that they aren't exactly easy on him either. It's not like he's thrilled at the idea of leaving his family to travel to the other side of the world. The last thing he needs is for his wife to be whining about it and making him feel guilty just for doing his job. That being said, I am more concerned for this upcoming trip than I have been for any of the ones in the past. Add the boys' behavior lately in with the fact that we're in crunch time for selling our house and toss in that Micah is now starting to show interest in potty training and I'm reaching the really tough part of my 5K training and it all adds up to a hot mess of crazy.
Oh yes, and there's one more thing:
I promise I'll try to be positive about it from now on, but I just had to throw that out there. If your prayer list is a little short as of late, would you consider throwing my family on there? This is going to be a significant challenge for us that I know I cannot handle on my own.
