Last week I went on a business trip for five days and four nights. A business trip by myself without the children. A business trip that required me to get on a plane and fly from the east coast to the west coast. A business trip that required the husband to care for our children......by himself.
If you are just joining this blog we have a three year old and 12 week old twins. So this means my husband is clearly out numbered and our children are very smart they can smell weakness and will pounce. Weakness in our home is one parent watching three children without any reinforcement or back up! All the smiling and cooing becomes a secret tactical language between the twins. I still can't figure out what each smile and coo means but it's always accompanied by exploding diapers, fifteen minute cat naps and/or tag team crying. If you are unfamiliar with tag team crying it is when one twin cries very loudly while the other watches in delight. Once that twin has finished crying then their counter part joins in on the fun. In addition, you have a three year old who in the past two weeks has turned into the Ultimate Warrior. His new pastimes are flipping and jumping off of chairs, couches, my back, etc. Needless to say the stress and anxiety can escalate at any moment when it's a 3:1 ratio of children to an adult.
As the husband reads this I'm sure he's saying speak for yourself I am always cool, calm and collected. If we are being honest then I must admit that it's true. The husband always says that I increase the stress level in the house because I'm constantly moving whereas he is taking in his surroundings and allowing things to flow. I am reminded of this while I'm on the phone with the husband when I landed in Phoenix. He summarizes the morning by saying that he dressed the kids, fixed their bottles, packed them in the car, dropped them off at daycare and made it to work on time. In my head I'm thinking beginners luck, let's see how you do after being up with them for their nightly feedings. The Great and ME are baiting him and the poor husband doesn't even have a clue. Once they have successfully caused him to lower his guard they will be ready to attack. I get in bed ready for my first night of uninterrupted sleeping with a smile on my face because I know that it's about to get real!!!
I call the husband the following morning to get a recap of last night. In my mind I'm thinking "Ha, welcome to my world of late night feedings and dang it's time to get up already"! To my surprise and somewhat disappointment he proceeds to tell me that ME only got up once and he made it to work on time....again! Don't get me wrong. I don't want my husband to fail but I want it to be tough so he can say "the wife is amazing she does this everyday without breaking a sweat". As the husband continued to brag about how easy it was I couldn't help but think that the children were making me look bad and I knew that they were doing it on purpose. Maybe it is me, maybe I do increase the stress level in the house. Nah they were just preparing for the main event; waking up every two hours for no reason at all. I hang up the phone feeling confident that last night was a fluke and "normalcy" will return tonight!
Later that evening when I called it was eerily quiet and the husband was enjoying a nice meal with The Great. This doesn't make any sense the hours of 6-8 pm are prime time for fussiness and eating on the run!!!! What is going on?!?! The husband was proving himself to be the baby whisperer. Slowly but surely a pattern of "the husband is a pro and mommy you've been doing it all wrong began to emerge". As the week went on ME added another nightly feeding but they immediately went back to sleep foregoing impromptu play sessions at 2 am. The husband still made it to work on time because of no major meltdowns from The Great or spit up on his clothes. Again I was perplexed but ready to get home to this new nightly routine that my husband was enjoying. After all I would be returning to work and would need a few extra HOURS of sleep.
Friday morning arrives and I am excited about returning home and seeing the crew. The husband and I discussed the morning happenings and what time I would be arriving at the airport. In the midst of the conversation I detected a small hint of fatigue but no indication of exhaustion. This guy was good! I head to the airport thinking about all I had learned about my wonderful husband. I always knew he was a great father of one but he has transformed into a flexible awesome dad of three. We are truly blessed.
I arrive at the airport ready to get my boarding pass and delicious complimentary cran-apple juice. I go to the kiosk to check in and it informs me that check in occurs 24 hours prior to the flight. Well duh! I reinsert my credit card and the 24 hour notification reappears. I pull out my confirmation email and to my utter disbelief I accidentally booked the return flight for Saturday instead of Friday. How was I going to explain this to my husband? I couldn't leave him at home with the kids by himself for another night! I tried to plead my case to the airline company but the expensive flight change fee remained the same. I called a friend who worked at another airline company but her hands were tied. It looked like I would be staying another night in Phoenix and I had to tell the husband. When he picked up the phone I immediately got teary eyed because I just wanted to get home. We discussed the situation and he calmly said "Take advantage of getting another night of uninterrupted sleep". He had everything under control and solidified his title as the baby whisperer.
When I finally made it home I showered everyone with kisses and hugs. I walk in the house and the husband plops onto the sofa. I get everyone bathed and put down to bed then head downstairs. To my surprise the husband is in a tv blaring, all the lights still on coma. Well, well, well I guess ME and The Great get the last laugh after all, daddy asleep before 9 pm. The 3:1 children to adult ratio had finally caught up to the husband. I smiled and grabbed the remote. A weeks worth of uninterrupted sleep meant I could keep my eyes open past 9 pm to watch some tv. I will sleep tomorrow night.......fingers crossed.