"I'm not used to daddy"

From Wednesday of last week until Sunday evening Gregg was away in England observing the technicians behind the scenes of the global leadership summit in Bracknell, one of the premier sites for the summit in Europe. All this in preparation for the first ever summit in Lithuania- at LCC in 2 weeks.

This was the first for a long separation of Gregg from us, and the first for mommy to manage the boys for 5 days on her own. Granted 3 of those days included some time in school.

But, David had part days wednesday and Thursday because of signs of tiredness and difficulty coping with full structured days.

We did some special things, got some extra toys and they got to play at the Akropolis mall play area for a few hours. And it was actually surprising how well they could do- as long as I stayed vigilant and on top of any signs of trouble.

I also got to do a day away while they were in school- a 2 hour trip to Kaunas to a celebration of the Lithuanian physical therapist association where I was mentioned among others who have contributed to the establishment and training of the profession over the last 15 years. I was surprised at the number of people who seemed to remember that I taught the earliest seminars that they had back in 1996-97.
The trip was also a good time for reflection and time along with God!

The boys were aware of the days till Gregg would come back and yet they did not exactly bug me about it. I was expecting them to have more trouble keeping track of the time. On Sunday they knew that Gregg would be coming back. David seemed to be anticipating it but not with the craziiness that sometimes accompanies his waiting for something that never seems to come soon enough. He greeting daddy warmly when he arrived and was glad to spend time with him.

Erik on the other hand told me before daddy got back that he was not ready for daddy to come back and that he was not used to daddy, he just wanted to be with mommy. Granted he had started to swing back toward wanting mommy around all the time before daddy left. But this is the same kind of initial wall that he has given me too when I am away over night. The wall did not come down this time until the morning, though.

By tonight both were quite happy to absorb all of daddy's attention.