Namaste, Daddy

I got home from work last night just after 6:30pm.  From the garage, I walked past the laundry room, through the family room and into the kitchen.  Not a soul was around.  It was quiet.  Peaceful almost.  I peeked into the microwave and saw a covered bowl of food and figured it was the meal that I had suggested to Dan that we have for dinner.  It was a quickie, one that I knew I could whip up and serve to the troops without cutting into bedtime.  “I’ll fix it when I get home,” I told Dan.  “If you want, you can get the noodles going,” I added.  Turns out, he did all of the fixin'.

I turned to the kitchen island to take a look at any schoolwork that Cal brought home that day.  This has been the routine that Dan instilled in him – arrive home, take off shoes, grab papers from folder in backpack and bring them to the kitchen for Mommy and Daddy to see.  There wasn’t much new to see last night.

I had been home for a few minutes now, and I heard a ruckus at the top of the stairs.  Not a bad ruckus, the kind where Dan or I might need to get involved to break up.  It was really just some stirring.  Shortly after I heard that, my two Leatherkids came bounding down the stairs, showered and already in their pajamas.  They were both smiling and came right to me to give me a hug.  Ella also puckered up and gave me a kiss.

We were all smiling at that moment.

Things are happening for me at work.  I’m working on a pretty big project and playing a big role in it.  This has demanded a lot of my time and brain cycles.  I take later trains home; once or twice a week, they're so late I only see the Leatherkids and Leatherdaddy asleep in their beds.  When I do see them and am actively participating in dinner, showers and bedtime, I’m whipping my laptop out and logging in shortly after getting them into bed.  Instead of complaining about the demands of all of this, I’m embracing it and really loving it.  There’s nothing to complain about!  Why is that?  Partly because of the company and the positive transformation it’s gone through over the past year (I believe in it), partly because of the people with whom I’m working (they’re great), and partly because of the work (it’s interesting and challenging).  I’m working hard and thinking right; and my commitment to this effort is paying off for me, not that that payoff is necessarily why I’m working so hard at it.  20+ years at this company, I’m finally doing something I really believe in and enjoy.  I’ve historically been a late bloomer, so maybe it's no surprise that this is happening to my career now.

To do this, though, requires a commitment from Dan to carry more of the parenting weight during the week than we have grown accustomed to until now.   Some of this we talked about; others we just kind of fell into.  He hasn’t complained and may have embraced it himself.  He’s doing a great job with the kids.  The scene I encountered when I got home from work last night is not uncommon – all under control and on schedule.  Routine.  Namaste.  I laugh about the number of times in the past that he arrived home from work to complete chaos – me in the kitchen fixing dinner later than desired, the kids (still in their clothes from their days) running from room to room with that toy shopping cart and ridable Pooh plane or possibly beating each other with their plastic hockey sticks, all of us yelling at each other.  That just doesn’t happen under Daddy’s watch.

Tomorrow is NHL Rivalry Night.  I'll be working late and at some point while doing so, imagining the Leatherkids and Leatherdaddy, fed, showered, jammied and curled up together on our bed for what's become a special moment for the three of them on Wednesdays during the long hockey season.  You're doing a great job, Daddy.  Namaste.