The movers came a week ago, and cleared our house out. We got some cool loaner furniture, to include a plastic covered mattresse, a washer/dryer, and some chairs. And, we borrowed a portacrib for Man Cub. But, the majority of Man Cub’s toys were packed into crates and carted away by strange men. The day Man Cub was at home, instead of at a neighbor’s house, he spent the day walking up the movers’ ramp to the truck, and then sitting down at the top and trying to slide down to the bottom of the ramp. However cool their ramp was, the strangers still took his things away. And, Man Cub was a trooper.
Then, the next work day came, and Soldier Boy left the country. It’s only for a short time, and he left while Man Cub slumbered peacefully unaware, in his bed. Man Cub didn’t really seem to mind his dad had left – at least not the first 2 days. While Man Cub is used to Soldier Boy working super long hours, and maybe not seeing his dad for a day, this is by far the longest Man Cub has ever gone without seeing his daddy. And, even 5 days in to Soldier Boy being gone, Man Cub was a trooper.
Two months ago, I scheduled a massage for this weekend. I make sure I get some time away from Man Cub, recharge my batteries, and allow for Soldier Boy and Man Cub some time to do whatever it is “guys” do during their down time together. When I scheduled the massage, I didn’t realize that it would be over the course of Soldier Boy being gone, and certainly didn’t know that it would be on the heels of our household goods being packed up and taken away. And, since Man Cub has thus far been a trooper about all the changes, I didn’t think anything of it by leaving Man Cub with a babysitter as I headed out last night.
We live in a stucco house, with concrete flooring. There is no carpeting, and the windows are more old-styled slats than they are true windows. Upon my exiting my house to head to my massage last night, Man Cub began crying. I ran a quick errand, and drove down our street after my quick pre-massage errand, to see if Man Cub had calmed down. I could hear Man Cub continuing to wail – three houses down from my own house.
After getting to the massage place, I called the babysitter to see if Man Cub had stopped crying. That was 40 minutes after I did the drive-by. I could hear Man Cub still crying in the background, and the babysitter informed me one of my neighbors had come over briefly, held Man Cub, and brought a toy car (one of the outside cars to ride) over to see if that would soothe Man Cub. It didn’t work, but the attempt was made. So, the babysitter decided to try a bath, and assured me she would let me know when Man Cub actually stopped crying. Within 10 minutes of the phone call, she told me that he had finally stopped crying. Man Cub wailed, though, for at least 50 minutes.
So, apparently, Man Cub is having a little difficulty transitioning.
On my way home from my massage, I received a text from the babysitter. Her update to me was: “… He fell asleep on the floor.” I figured that was okay, since we have certain areas of our concrete flooring covered with the “new-fangled” (read: the cool things they didn’t have when I was a kid) foam mats, so Man Cub could have something soft to lie on while he did tummy time, or played with his cars, etc.
I arrived home to find Man Cub well and truly, on the floor:
