Virtual Single Dad
June 24, 2009
Kim is up in Collegeville, MN for three weeks teaching a class. Her mom went with her to take care of the baby but for the first week I kept Thomas here in Chicago with me. Kim also took the car so I had to get him around town on my bike and with public transportation. We had a lot of fun.
On Saturday it was pouring so we went to see the new Pixar film, Up or as Thomas called it, the "flying house movie." This was Thomas' first movie theater experience and I expected him to get bored half way through but he was great. I think getting popcorn helped. Sunday the weather was nice so we rode our bike to get some crepes ("French pancakes" in Thomasese), took the blue line to the Chicago Blues Festival, and went to Mass in the evening. During the week I dropped him off each day on the bike and then took the blue line in to work. This worked fine except on the one day it was pouring. I had to get him and the bike home via the bus. When we walked in the door of our apartment he was perfectly dry but I was soaked.
The hardest part about being solely responsible for another person is the feeling that you can't make a single mistake. Suppose I got sick or hurt, no one would be able to watch Thomas while I recovered. I'm not sure what I would have done if the public transportation broke down and I couldn't get back to his day care in time. I ended every evening more tired than usual but I still had to get up early enough to get myself ready before Thomas, but I knew I couldn't take a break or ask someone else to take the responsibility. One of the biggest benefits of a two-adult household has to be the implicit safety net. It is much harder for a single mistake or bad luck to turn into a disaster when there are two parents.
Despite the hard parts, it was still a lot of fun spending so much time together with Thomas. I told Kim that I should have kept him here with me for 2 weeks.