Mad Dog and I surprised the boys by both of us picking them up for school. From there we went out for pizza. Afterwards we walked across the parking lot to the natural foods market. This is so we could stock up on frozen eggless waffles and pancakes for T.Puzzle. As we were loading in the car, Mad Dog and I got into a slight verbal tussle over who should help whom with their seatbelts (if you are married with small kids you know what I’m talking about). For Full Speed to buckle his own seatbelt is much like his journey to being fully potty-trained, nearly impossible and a long time overdue. While Mad Dog and I are sparring Full Speed attempts to do his own seatbelt to no avail.
“I can’t buckle myself in if you guys are arguing!†he says.
Once we are all tucked safely in the truck, I have to agree with Full Speed. I lean over and give Mad Dog a smooch and we manage to get along for the rest of the ride home.
Flash forward to the early pre-dawn hours and I am awakened with a start. I am groggy and not sure what has stirred me from sleep. That’s when I hear the tell-tale thud of T.Puzzle launching himself out of his crib. I wake Mad Dog and get him up to speed and he heads into T.Puzzle’s room. T.Puzzle is determined to join us in our bed. That’s not our policy. We believe in our kids sleeping separately from us as much as possible.
Instead of threatening him or letting him ‘cry it out’ Mad Dog comes up with an interesting and efficient solution. He plops T.Puzzle down next to his brother in the big boy race-car bed and calls it a night (or should I say early, pre-dawn morning?).
We didn’t hear a peep until it was actually a reasonable time to rise. Good work, Mad Dog! Good work.
