HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Every now and then a moment comes along that makes you stop and realize the blessings you have in life. Recently that "moment" for me was encapsulated in a day. Father's Day in the Halter household, to be exact. If you couldn't already tell from my blog, I'm a bit of a "go-getter" if people are being kind and a "hyper, pain-in-the-ass" if they're being realistic. So for Father's Day I had a huge amount of things planned that I just knew hubs would like. Maybe we'd rent a boat for the afternoon? Perhaps a picnic at the lake? No, I know -- we'd go bowling! I would ask Tim what he wanted to do and he'd tell me exactly what he wanted - he wanted to do nothing. Just relax..... ahem.... What? Who does that anymore?

The day came and I settled down enough to actually take Tim's wishes into account ( Crazy, I know.) Me, Tim and the kids stayed in our pajamas until almost 2 pm and did... nothing. And you know what? It was fantastic! Ethan and I made a father's day breakfast and later made rice krispy squares, Tim watched the US Open, Emi played with her toys... After awhile I realized my kids were the most happy and relaxed I'd seen them all week. When I took enough time to slow down from the business of making things "fun" (aka running around like a chicken with my head cut off) Guess what? We actually started having fun. In our jammies. At 2 pm.

Later we did manage to scrape ourselves off the couch and go bike shopping. We were supposed to be looking for a bike for Tim (being Father's day and all), but ended up getting one for Ethan instead. So my darling husband spent his father's day assembling a bike for our son.

And that's the thing about dads - they're so busy taking care of us and teaching us how to relax - they can often get overlooked. But every now and then the veil is pulled from my eyes. As I watched Tim sweat over assembling our son's bike on what was supposed to be "his day" I fell in love with the father of my children all over again.

Dealing with a load of crap...

This is not, as you might expect, a post about a hard client. No. no... this is a situation that will go down in Halter history and lore. My almost four year old has become completely obsessed with all of the different ways he can pee. This is a kid who learned instantly how to go potty as soon as he realized he could do it standing up.



So it came as no shock to me when I found him one warm, sunny day showing his goods to the world as he peed off of the side of our backyard deck. I asked him why he did it and he informed me daddy taught him how. Ahem.



As you ladies know, you've got to pick your battles. He was in our backyard and wasn't peeing directly on his sister, so I figured what could it hurt? "Let the sun shine in."



....You know what's coming, right?



Yesterday we're out in the yard playing when I see a huge load of dog poo by our deck. Here's the kicker - we don't have a dog. I pull Ethan aside and as quietly I can muster, ask him if he poo'd off of the side of the deck. The answer was an absolute yes. You've gotta give the kiddo points for honesty.



Needless to say, after a long coversation, poor Ethan is no longer able to pee as nature intended. Man, talk about a crappy week...

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The Balancing Act

A close friend of mine and business associate recently decided to try to stay at home with his newborn while continuing to work from home. (And yes, I said "his" - it's a guy - how cool is that?) As all of us work from home moms can attest, it's been a bit... um... difficult for him. After about two weeks he's decided he needs to bring a sitter in at least two days a week so he can get some time to concentrate on work and work only.

I did the same thing after my first was born. Thought I could work while also watching the baby. That's how I got puked on during a business meeting, but that's a story for another post....

I eventually got a nanny. At first for 12 hours a week and shortly thereafter upped it to 20 hours. After all, not many Editors think it's "quaint" to hear, "Mom, I need you to wipe me!" at 300 decibels.

Interested in hearing how you solved the dilemma. Weigh in.