This week has been a bit difficult for The Princess and I because Daddy A has been away for four days already for a seminar with USAID (Today’s the last day, yipee!). Well, the seminar is just in Makati and although it’s a live-in type of seminar, he still goes home at night (but really late) and leaves very early in the morning. So, in The Princess’ view, her Daddy hasn’t been coming home.
Meal times have been especially challenging. The Princess is used to having Daddy A around during meals. Yes – breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s their special Daddy-and-Me time since the rest of the day is dedicated to work (and Mommy, hehe). But since A is away, our girl has become very grumpy and it escalates during meal times. She won’t eat properly – if she even eats anything – and would cry and call for her Daddy. She only stops when I carry her OR when she finds an interesting object to play with.
Having no helper around and with a huge baby bump, this has been very difficult for me. Imagine carrying a toddler around while cleaning up her mess! On top of that, I also have to do other house chores like cook, wash the dishes, do the laundry, etc. – all with The Princess in one arm (and sometimes, one leg).
This is why I am almost always in a bad mood when A comes home. I’m tired, I’m hungry (did I mention we weren’t able to shop for groceries before the seminar started so we had to live on chicken nuggets and bacon?) and my lower back is aching like crazy.
So last night, A came home with a surprise for us. Something to lift our spirits up. What better thing to give to two girls having mood swings, but a piece of luscious chocolate cake?!
He bought this cake in Dusit Thani. He knew his girls are having a hard time so he made sure he didn’t bring home just any cake… it had to be a special cake.
And because of this special surprise, we had a rather easy day today. The Princess was in a beautiful mood. She did what she was told to do and didn’t throw any tantrums!
That’s her being her goofy self during brunch. After eating, she even helped me clean up by sweeping the floor for me! It wasn’t a perfect clean up, but what the heck, any help is help!
That’s how our week went.
How do your kids react when one parent has to go away and what do you do to keep them happy?
