Skip to main content

Off Kilter

The long hours are catching up ... "stir crazy," loss of focus, ... of memory. Having just survived THREE DAYS as a father by myself ... yes, I know, some kind of record or something, right?

For some reason, the Christmas-tale, "Twas The Night Before Christmas" has been ringing through my mind.

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

 What I would have given for that extra bit of sleep. I definitely appreciate everything Jen does for me and I certainly hope that I extend the same amount of effort to her.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hoped that St. Nicholas soon would be there.

On top of caring for Patrick, I had a death at work to deal with ... a close, personal friend is now watching out for my son and his son (on the way). In the back of my mind has been a constant fear ... a clarion bell that I only managed to keep silent through herculean effort. This monologue of things to do, things done, and juggling ... "what can be done tomorrow, on top of everything else."

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.

 He did sleep ... some well planned road-time knocked him out. Although this was after hours of wrangling, wrestling, and nail-biting on my part.

And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap.

 I wish Mama had been around ... I hit the bed and crashed, hoping to sleep to the alarm. We did manage that at least.

How a Christmas story pertains to caring for my son ... I have no idea, other than these are the correlations my brain is making at the moment.
Labels:
Location: Columbus, OH, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Terror or Anger

Jennifer and I woke about twenty minutes ago to Patrick crying ... nothing unusual. I asked her to get him since I have to start getting ready for work in about three hours (yes, I have to work on a Saturday). Where things became unusual was the loud, sustained crash, and Patrick's cries rising to a hefty scream. Being the concerned parent that I am ... with visions of his changing table collapsed on top of him, I rushed to their aid. "What was that?" I cried. Jennifer, weakly replied, "I fell down the stairs." With Patrick screaming at the top of his lungs, I think I actually asked her to repeat what she said. I found my wife sitting, with her legs out and my son in her arms, at the bottom of the stairs. Asking if she and Patrick were OK was mixed into confused questioning about what happened. Somehow, her feet went out from under her (we suspect a couple of the leaves that Patrick likes to play with were on the steps). While my real concern was i
Post a Comment
Read more

"Hello?"

We walked into my parents house ... looking for Papap. "Hello," we called. "'Ello," Patrick mimicked. "Hello," we called again, laughing a bit. "'Ello," Patrick mimicked again, delighted that he could get us laughing that easily. Out in the back yard, he went for the shovel (small blue plastic one I got for him a while back). "Maybe he should go shovel in the sand-box," Papap said ... Off he went to the sand-box, lugging the shovel. Later I asked him if he wanted raisins. Shaking his head no, he headed for the fridge. "Eeze," he said ... Cheese, he intended. His comprehension and vocal capacity is growing by leaps and bounds!
Post a Comment
Read more

Happiness Is ...

Last night was a long night ... Patrick is either sick or having a reaction to something. He has a temperature, is in obvious pain, and has a good rash covering most of his body. We have opted to wait and call his doctor ... rather than a hospital run. They will not do any more than we are with medication for the pain and temperature. But, that is not what I am writing about this morning. What I want to touch on is ... Happiness. Children know something about happiness ... the younger they are the more they show a true understanding of happiness. They are often happy for no reason ... their eyes are open and Mama and Papa are there. I think, in there is something to remember ... sometimes, we need to be happy for no reason. I keep thinking about how easy it is to take the reason that someone is happy. This all came about, not because of Patrick's issues last night, but because of a few blissful minutes when I got back to the bedroom to find my wife and son asleep on t
Post a Comment
Read more