einz

B left this morning for LA, where her sister T will be having a baby soon. (Yes, we all refer to each other by our first initials.) Today is day one of my spring break. So we thought, logically, that it would be a good idea for G to stay home with me and let B help T in LA. For the most part, this is a good idea. I like bonding with the Gert, even though she is not yet two. We watch Thomas the Train together and read Clifford books. We run--yes, run--to the park near our house almost every day to go on the swings or down the slide. When it rains, we stomp in puddles. When it snows, we stick our tongues out and try to catch snowflakes. It's a wonderful life. That is, when I get to participate in it. This semester, I'm at school from 8:30a to well past Greta's bedtime three days a week. Two other days a week, I make it home for dinner, bath, and bed. On weekends my nose is usually stuffed in several books. While daddy is at school, mommy and toddler have established a relatively smooth routine and daddy hasn't really been a part of most of it. So here I am, with Greta, for a full week. Just us. And I have papers to grade and research and write--the sword of Damocles perpetually dangling over my head. So the usual pull to be a good academic is there along with the deceptively pleasant pressure of single parenthood. It might be a long week; it might be a great week.