Unexpected Reprieve

I will be the first to admit that sometimes on the weekends I have a tendency to check out. Or, more accurately, on the weekends I try to do as little with the kids as possible. It's not very nice, I admit, but I'm with them a lot during the week and I like to sneak away when I know Charlie is hanging out with them and get just a little time to myself to veg and do something mindless. Of course Charlie works hard and he would like to do that too. Except now he can't.

All three of the kids were very attached to me when they were babies, probably because I nursed them and fed them and took care of their every need, but each one has, over time, started to favor Charlie over me. Who wouldn't really? He's a lot more fun, he likes to play, and he hardly ever yells at them. I definitely would rather be with Charlie than with them, so why shouldn't it be the other way around?

Following this trend, Amanda is all about Charlie right now. So much, that when he is home she wants nothing to do with me and wants him to do everything with/for her. It's great for me, except when he is out of town and I have to explain for the 100th time that Daddy is not home and she is going to have to let me change her diaper. When he is home, she wants him to take her to the bathroom, get her dressed, change her diaper, hold her hand in the parking lot, give her a bath, anything we are doing she wants him to do it.

Am I offended? Am I sad at all? Not really. I get to spend plenty of time with the kids during the week doing all those things. If anything I am happy that he gets to share some of the responsibility and that the task gets done at all. Yesterday Charlie was in the pool with the kids and I needed to change her diaper. She refused to let me put one on her, so we went outside and she sat on my lap with a naked but because no matter how much I tried she was not going to let me put on her diaper. As long as she doesn't pee on me I'm cool with it.

So I get a little break in the action and the kids get their special time with Daddy. A win, win for everybody. The funny part is that if they wake up in the middle of the night or get hurt, they still come to me. So deep down I know where I stand. Charlie may be the fun one, but I'm still Mommy.