Daddy
days
Friday 14 July 2000
Thursdays and Fridays have always been Daddy days. They're the days when Matthew is home with me. Saturdays and Sundays are Mummy days. Mondays through Wednesdays have always been Maxie days, but since Max's Mum, Karen, is due to have a baby, he's with Sonia for the next few weeks. So they're Sonia days.
I'll ask him in the morning when he's lying in bed with us, having his morning bottle.
“What day is today Matthew?”
“Maxie day!”
“No, it's not a Maxie day. You're with Sonia now, and that day was yesterday. What day is today?”
“Nana day!”
“Noooooo … it's not a Nana day. We saw Nana the other day for dinner. What day is today?”
“Ahhhhhh, Mummy day!”
“No! It's a Daddy day. You know that!”
“Daddy day!”
It's been a stunning week. Calm sunny days, almost warm in the sun. The sea has sparkled and shone, the mornings have been cold and crisp, the evenings still and serene.
Today we dropped Debbie off at work and parked in the middle of town. The last few weeks we've gone and ridden a bus. We'd walk up to a bus stop, catch the first one down to the Railway station, walk through to where the buses leave for back up town, and catch one back again. Matty's loved it. I thought we would do the same again today, but walking up to the bus stop, he veered off track.
“Matty, don't you want to ride the bus?”
“No! Climb steps”
So, we climbed up the steps from Civic Square, and across the bridge to the lagoon by the sea. There was a digger working there, bringing up big boulders in a remodelling of the area.
“Ohhhhhhhhh, WOW!” said Matthew as we stopped and watched for a while.
We wandered around for while on the waterfront, ending up at a children's playarea where he slide down the slides.
“Come on Daddy” he'd say at the the top of slide, waiting for me to climb up beside him and slide down the other slide with him.
It was a lovely lovely morning
I kept thinking I'd miss mornings like this if I had a full-time job.