The End

It's over. Three weeks of parenting by myself while Sean traveled for work. I'm not even going to count the 36 or so hours he was home one weekend, because he got trapped into working about 12 of them, and since we slept about 16 of them--you can do the math there. This was the longest I have gone alone since the Boodge was born. He got sick twice, and in this last week, I caught the second illness which turns out to be a fever followed by lungs full of guck that can only be expelled through constant, violent coughing that takes Peanut on a wild ride and makes me leak pee in public places. Maybe that's too much information, but you should know that being pregnant brings more than just a a baby bump.

You can probably imagine how happily I was anticipating the moment I picked Sean up at the airport, handed him the keys, and put my head back for the drive home. Boo and I spent this last week visiting my cousin and his family on Vancouver Island. They are amazing people with three funny, energetic, smart, sweet kids and I feel more at home visiting there than almost anywhere except maybe my mommy's house. Still, I was sick, and no matter how you slice it, being with 4 small kids cannot equal relaxation. My cousin's wife, and my dear friend, is also pregnant, well into her 3rd trimester, so we were two tired Mama's just keeping the kids and ourselves alive. I'm sure she was somewhat glad to see two extra bodies leave her house.

We timed our return so that we could pick Sean up on the way from the ferry. He was getting in at 7:20, the ferry got in at 6:45 and I pulled into the airport parking at 7:10. "We're going to get Daddy!" I kept telling Boo excitedly. He held my hand and we walked up to the flight information TV's in the international arrival's lounge. Even from a distance I could see the words "Dallas" on the screen and I knew that there were a few too many words next to it to say "On Time" or "Arrived". Nope, what it said was "Delayed until 20:48".

"Where Daddy go? Go get Daddy!" Boo yelled excitedly. "Where Daddy go?"
"We have to wait a long time for Daddy, actually, buddy," I said, picking him up and turning away from the TV screens. I felt a panicky, teary desperation inside me for one second before I realized I needed to suck it up and just let two hours pass. Boo was way ahead of me. He had a luggage cart and he was wheeling recklessly through the crowds, yelling "No no Mommy!" when I tried to grab the handle. He wasn't just going to get through the next 2 hours, he was going to have the time of his life!

And so the party began. Next he discovered the escalators, and we rode those for a long time, up, down "Do dat agin!!" up, down, "Do dat agin!!". Then he saw some children playing by the beautiful "Jade Canoe" sculpture and ran to join them. I took the opportunity to sit down, enjoying the sight of children from what looked like 4 different countries playing together, shouting at each other in different languages. After about 10 minutes the chase had moved into the food court, and then I saw Boodge stop, hunch down a little, and make the unmistakable poo face. The other kids, bewildered, tried to egg him on, dancing around him and pounding their chests and shouting what must have been "chase me!" in their language. But it was over. He came running to me, no longer in the game.

After the diaper change, the kids were gone, so we rode the escalators again. Somehow, we passed an hour. I was just putting one foot in front of the other following Boo, and he was running wild, climbing, hanging, jumping, yelling. He was ecstatically overtired. Suddenly, at 8:30, he stopped and said, "I need juice!" He started to repeat the request in a voice that was going directly to meltdown. I grabbed him up and marched straight to the food court, assuring him that he would have juice right away. I had left his sippy cup and my water in the car, thinking we would only be half an hour.

We got a couple of drinks and a granola bar and sat down to eat. Boo sucked back a lot of juice through the straw the nice concession woman had given him. He ate chunks of granola, stood on his chair and yelled "HI GUY UP DERE! COME DOWN GUY WAYYYY! UPPPP! DERE!!!" to an invisible man on the second floor of the food court. Then it was 8:40, so I told him it was time to go downstairs and wait for his daddy. He got down from the chair, walked 5 steps, burped loudly, and puked up all his juice and granola.

Thank you food court cleaning lady! She came to take care of it when I had it half cleaned with paper napkins. We went downstairs to wait. After a while I wondered if Boo was still thirsty and offered him more juice. But the bottle was 1/3 full, and he is still learning that if you tip the bottle when there's a straw, you may not get any juice. So, he tipped it more. All over himself. That's when I decided to put him in his pajamas. Right there in the airport lounge, cause no way was I leaving the area and missing Sean, in case he thought we ditched him and found another way home.

I think that may also be when I let go of all caring whether I was a complete spectacle. I was disheveled and coughing up a lung and peeing my pants and sitting next to a toddler who was, inexplicably, yelling "I put granola in my PENIS!" So I didn't stop him when he began turning somersaults all through the crowd in the lounge. I only halfheartedly tried to stop him when he went behind me and played with my butt, giggling and yelling "Tickly tickly bum!" I let him lie around on the carpet pretending it was night-night time. In between I watched that little "Delayed until 8:48" like a hawk, and when, at 9:15, it finally said "Arrived", I almost wept with joy.

There used to be a time when I dressed up to pick Sean up from the airport. I did my hair and put on a skirt and some perfume and make-up and tried to look sexy. Now, it seemed fine enough just that he find me alive, crusted in vomit, juice, and pee. He only had eyes for Boo when he got off that plane anyway. It was sweet to see them both light up when they spotted each other, to hear Boo yell "Hi Daddy! Daddy took a BIG AIRPLANE!", to watch Sean swoop Boo up and carry him to the car. And finally, I got to hand Sean the keys and put my head back for the drive home. Boo was so wired it took him almost an hour to fall asleep in the car. But he did, and we got home sweet home, and as soon as I could get him transferred to his bed, I went off to do the same.

It's over. We made it. My backup has arrived. It's the weekend. It's almost 10:00pm. And much as it sounds nice to hang out with Sean, my bed is calling me so sweetly that I have to answer. I'm gonna sleep until Father's Day. Good night everybody.