Hellobee

A couple weeks ago, Mr. Juice went out of town for a work trip. He was only gone for three days, but you would think that it was forever for the girls.

Of course, I’ll admit it’s gotten a million times easier to take care of the kids now that they are 4 and 7 years old. But what I didn’t anticipate? How much they would miss their daddy.

One of the things that Mr. Juice and I tend to disagree about is how he thinks the girls sometimes just want Mommy, and there is no one else that can replace Mommy for them when they are in those moods (including Daddy conveniently!). I’m sure it sounds lovely in theory, but when I have two sobbing “big girls” elbowing and kicking each other to sit in my lap at the same time or fighting to the death about who gets Mommy at bedtime or first thing in the morning, I sometimes wish there was a Mommy replacement!

Well, it turns out sometimes the girls want Daddy and no one else will do.

I picked up HJ early from school for an appointment one of the days that Mr. Juice was out of town. As we were driving, she suddenly burst into tears and said she HAD to talk to Daddy immediately. So I called him on his cell, amazingly he picked up (thinking there was some emergency) and HJ tearfully told him that her head hurt because a boy had dropped a scooter on her head during gym class.

First of all, how does that even happen, and secondly, why didn’t the school tell me? But as I was worrying about whether HJ had a concussion, Mr. Juice calmly told her to put an ice pack on her head when she got home and she was somehow satisfied with that answer. And I guess Mommy telling her the same thing just wouldn’t have been the same!

As for our little one, who like most four year olds, has a hard time understanding how long three days is, kept asking when Daddy was coming back. When I told her that he would be home that night, she valiantly tried to stay up to see him, not realizing that he would be taking a late flight and wouldn’t be home until 11 pm. I have to say, seeing her face light up in the morning when Daddy was finally home, was one of the sweetest things ever. And something I hope doesn’t change anytime soon.

Another thing Mr. Juice and I disagree about sometimes? How I don’t sit down and “play” with the kids for an extended time. I know he’s right, but when you are a work at home mom, there often seems to be too much to get done and too little energy and patience to get to it all! So it’s a good thing the girls have Daddy for that on the evenings and weekends.

Building a complicated Lego set with HJ at 7 a.m. on a Saturday morning? Thank goodness for Daddy. Playing “Baby So Real” with Lila for 45 minutes straight while Lila pretends to be a living baby doll and Mr. Juice has to pretend to feed her, put her to bed, and carry her around — I’ll give him all the credit for that one!

Other things that only Daddy can do according to HJ and Lila? Fix broken toys, make pancakes, and grill the best steaks. Oh, and apparently he is a better and gentler hair brusher than Mommy times a thousand.

Here’s to wishing they stay Daddy’s girls for a long, long time.