Take Your Child to Work Day

Today's Take Your Child to Work Day. I was originally thinking of taking Mr. L with me to school, but we don't really have anything planned for this occasion. It would be a normal day of my handing out essay topics and my students having to write. Instead, Daddy decided to take him in to his work place. Now, daddy is a police sergeant, so you can imagine what an exciting day they (the powers that be) have planned for all the little ones. I am imagining a day of lights, dogs, firetrucks, and other goodies. I'll have to report back when I get the full details (and pics) of today.

But the reason for this post is to share that nervous excitement that took hold of Daddy as he planned today. He would be taking Mr. L by himself. No mommy to the rescue if L had to pee or - god forbid - do "caca." Mommy wouldn't be there if there was an explosion of the behind and clothes needed changing (this hasn't happened lately, but it's a big fear). If L got tired and cranky and started acting like a brat (which he sometimes tends to do when he's over tired), well, mommy wouldn't be there. And worst of all, there was that pesky thing called traffic. South Florida traffic is, well, for lack of a better term: a royal pain in the arse! And unfortunately, lately it has gotten worse and worse.

Last night we (thought we) prepared. We packed his "snack box" with many goodies and water. We put a pack of flushable wipes in the handle of the snack box. We picked out his clothes. We mentally prepared (or rather, Daddy mentally prepared) for today. Then night came. At about midnight, L woke up with a coughing fit. Actually, he never quite woke up. He kept tossing and turning and coughing - not a croup cough, not a phlegm cough, just a really annoying, dry cough. This lasted for about thirty minutes. Then, just as suddenly as it came, it disappeared, and he slept the rest of the night. Meanwhile, mommy and daddy were wide-eyed but half-asleep, nerves twitching and muscles ready to leap into action if need be. When L stopped coughing, we slipped back into sleep.

We woke up a little later, at about 6:30. I say "about" because we had set two alarm clocks: one at 6 AM and one at 6:30 AM. Somewhere in between that we gathered all our strength and stretched our limbs out of bed, rolling into the morning routine. L was still sleeping. At 7 AM, like clockwork, he was up, stumbling in a sleepy, drunken stupor towards our room, the pitter patter of his feet drumming softly on the floors. He staggered past me and made a beeline towards daddy. Only then, after he had been swooped up by daddy and received his morning hug, did he finally turn to me and smile. But it's okay. After his smile, he said to me: "I wub you." The best.

Rushing L in the mornings is not easy. In that delicate balance between sleeping and waking up, he's a tad bit cranky. That's not easy when we have to rush, like today. We took the clothes out, brought him downstairs, and gave him milk and breakfast. Eating, though, is an hour ordeal, and we only had about fifteen minutes or so to get him fed and clothed. And for him to go to the potty.

- Let me derail just slightly to say how proud I am of my baby! He hasn't had an accident in over a month! Before that, he'd gone about a month without accidents, but coming back from our Disney trip in March really affected him in sleep and potty training. Anyway, he can go hours without peeing, and he'll tell us when he has to go. I don't have to lug around the potty seat because he can pee standing up and it's so much easier! The best thing is that he's been dry at night for a couple of weeks! He still wears a pull-up to go to sleep, but he'll go potty before bed and when he wakes up. I know he's ready for me to pull the plug on the pull-up (sorry - I couldn't resist) but I'm not ready yet only because school's still in session and because we're going on a Disney cruise in three weeks and I'm afraid that it'll set him back and he'll regress again. I'm thinking of waiting until after the cruise to finally get rid of the pull up. But the adventure in potty training was so much easier for us than we anticipated. He was ready and I didn't even know it; if it wouldn't have been for the chance we took back in Jan, we'd be getting ready to do this now. He really is getting to be such a big boy! -

Okay, back to today. Daddy and L left late. And leaving even ten minutes late in this city can cost up to an extra thirty minutes in arrival time. Not fun. Traffic, too, was worse than usual, so poor Daddy was stressing that they weren't going to get there on time. And when he looked in the bag, the wipes weren't there. Somehow, in the mess of packing what had been prepared last night, they were left somewhere. Where exactly, we don't know. We'll find out when we get home. Meanwhile, in the car, he had a chocolate-syrup smeared face, waffle pieces in the car floor. L was oblivious and singing "wheels on the bus" (when I called), and I'm sure he also sang "Pirate's Life for Me" - another story befitting a post of its own. So now I wait to see how today went with my boys. I know Daddy will do a fabulous job with L, and L is going to have a grand ol' time.