After a break in 2022, Martin was off to Norway for his bi-annual fishing trip. And that meant I was on point as parent for the week! For those new here, and to rely solely on the nuclear family stereotypes, Martin is the incredible, do everything mom of the family and I am the workaholic deadbeat dad. But with Martin gone I was excited and ready to step up to the challenge and have some fun along the way. Martin left Friday afternoon and wouldn’t return until the following Saturday. I took a half day on Friday to stock up on food at Costco while the kids were still at school and here is what we got up to:
We started Saturday off strong with a soccer game for Oskar in the morning (I brought snacks and juice boxes for the kids like the soccer mom I had always wanted to be) and we found some additional fun in the drive home, letting the kids decide what direction to turn at every intersection. With San Francisco on a grid system, at every stop sign or street light I asked the kids if they wanted to go straight or turn right/ left. We definitely didn’t take the most direct route home, but we did get a chance to explore a few new streets and neighborhoods along the way
On Sunday, I introduced the kids to proper Dim Sum at Peony’s in Oakland. I am not sure if they were sold on the idea but I will blame that on the fact that they no longer offer the cart service. Promises were made for Yank Sing in SF in December so they could have the full experience
After dim sum the kids chose to check out the Lawrence Hall of Science (instead of FairyLand) where I showed my age by asking if the blue whale heart exhibit was still available (just a mere 30 plus years later)
Monday morning marked the start of the weekly hustle to get out the door and to school on time and me to the “office” before my day of work and meetings began
Monday evening also began the week of really juggling it all including cooking dinner, packing backpacks and getting everything set for the following morning sprint all while getting in a few minutes of quality time. Thankfully the kids found a way to entertain themselves while I got dinner on the table every evening and I somehow convinced the Kids to pack their lunches each night before bed
Everyday after school, I embraced child taxi service duties driving them to their swim lessons, soccer practice, and music lessons
With an 8:30 am start to work and a hard stop at 2:39 pm to make after school pick up, I spent most nights working instead of my plan of watching terrible TV and movies while Martin was gone
After a few days of the hustle, things started to unravel…
I had a huge mom fail of not recognizing how painful Oskar’s growing pains were one night at 2:30 in the morning. Instead of being a caring and loving mom I pretty much told him to suck it up and couldn’t understand why he was fake crying and not sleeping. It took an hour of tears before I gave him Tylenol and to my surprise (and serious guilt) 16 minutes later he had quieted down and fallen asleep
I also had a moment of weakness (aka I snapped and yelled) on Thursday night (why, I can’t remember) which prompted the kids to load the dishwasher and Alva made me sandwiches for my own lunch the next day
But by Friday, with the promise of Martin's return the next day, I was back to my normal positive self. I picked the kids up from school Friday afternoon and we headed to Japantown for a date night... the movie premiere of the new Paw Patrol movie and bullet train sushi
Saturday morning we had another soccer match (snacks provided by yours truly again) And with Martin arriving a little later than expected on Saturday, we made an impromptu visit to grandma and grandpa’s house Saturday after soccer.
I had such a fun time and I think the kids did too. But we were all definitely excited for Martin to come home in time for a full Sunday of fun.
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