[twitter]My wife has been working all weekend. It’s wine show season, so that means she spends her weekends pouring at what should be an event for people to learn more about wine, and try new varietals, but ends up being an open bar gong show.
So she’s out all day/night Friday, all day/night Saturday, and exhausted by Sunday.
So it’s up to me to entertain the boys. And that means a few things: we’re not staying at home, and we’re not having baths.
Dads do it differently. It doesn’t mean we don’t love our kids any less, we just put things on a different scale of priorities, and for me bath time falls below ice cream dates, movie dates, and getting out and exploring our city.
Here’s what we’ve done this weekend .. so far.
Friday I bolted from work early, came out and caught the late afternoon showing of Muppets Most Wanted. After the movie, we hit up Boston Pizza for dinner!
We got home pretty late, played some LEGO, skipped bath and went to bed.
Saturday morning the boys in the house got up early and watched My Little Pony on tv while we let Mama sleep in. I know, Matt Walsh, I’m a terrible parent, but what can I say? I’m that kind of dad.
After breakfast we piled out and did some groceries and came home for lunch. The afternoon’s activities included checking out some classic cars from movies and tv at Heritage Park, making stop motion animated movies, playing with LEGO, and then hitting up Tim Horton’s for a coffee and donut treat.
We had decided Saturday night was going to be a Star Wars night so we queued up Star Wars The Clone Wars on Netflix while I made dinner. Then while I had a big steak and salad, the boys had strips and noodles all in front of the tv!
I know!! I’m that kind of dad.
After dinner and the movie, we piled back out and went to Dairy Queen for sundaes. It may have been snowing and -14, but it’s boys’ weekend, so that means ice cream treats.
We came home, threw on pjs, brushed our teeth, skipped bath, read Curious George, and then snuggled to sleep.
Tomorrow we’ll likely go to The Canada Sports Hall of Fame while Mama recovers from her workaholic weekend.
It’s exhausting entertaining kids 24/7. I don’t know how stay at home parents, or single parents do it. But when my wife has to work, this is the approach I always take: get out of the house and do something. Anything.
I call what I do being a “not at home dad.” When it’s on me to be the solo parent, there’s no way I’m sitting at home for 3 days with the boys glued to screens. I’d totally let them do that, I’m that kind of dad too.
So we get out. We explore, we have ice cream. We skip baths. We have a #bestdayever.