I'm in L.A. this
week for work. For my family, at least, this is a long time and a long distance
to be apart from each other. For Natalia, it has been emotional. She spent
Friday clinging on to Jeff all day and then to me in the evening. Saturday we
attended a birthday party for a good friend, which served as a good distraction
(even if it meant the kids were crazy all day!). Due to post-party exhaustion,
Natalia went to bed with little fuss by Natalia standards, but at 2:30am Sunday I found her sitting in her Elmo chair in her room just SCREAMING.
When I went in, she burst into tears and just said, "I'm going to miss
you!" I told her I would miss her too, promised to wake her when my alarm
went off, and headed back to bed. She was back up 30 minutes later, at which
point I tucked her in on the couch. At 5:30am, she asked to climb in bed with us. I was too tired to argue,
so I ignored her and hoped she go away. Nope, she just crawled in bed and laid
down right on top of me. By 5:50, I gave up on resting
and the two of us got up.
Natalia and I had our usual morning battles until about 7:20, but when I went to finish packing, she was a whole new child. Suddenly, she was Helper Girl. She wanted to assist me. In addition to the usual clothes and toiletries, she packed a few other things she thought would be helpful. I started a tradition several trips ago of taking one of Leon or Natalia's stuffed animals with me when I travel solo. This time, in addition to packing Bunny, Natalia packed Bunny's blankie for me. Natalia actually got quite carried away, and I had to stealthily sneak things back out of my suitcase. Currently sitting in my closet at home under a pile of clothes waiting to be ironed are a baby doll, a Barbie, a Little People dad, and what Natalia calls her Harry Potter book which is a hard-backed journal on which she has "written" pages and pages of stories. However, in addition to Bunny and her blankie, I did end up with a few bonus items that made the transcontinental trek. My hotel room currently includes an Angry Bird, a chair for the Little People dad, a My Little Pony, a pair of working miniature binoculars, and a "guitar" made out of a Jello box and rubber bands.
Housekeeping is going to think I'm nuts, but I shouldn't get bored in my hotel room this week!
Natalia and I had our usual morning battles until about 7:20, but when I went to finish packing, she was a whole new child. Suddenly, she was Helper Girl. She wanted to assist me. In addition to the usual clothes and toiletries, she packed a few other things she thought would be helpful. I started a tradition several trips ago of taking one of Leon or Natalia's stuffed animals with me when I travel solo. This time, in addition to packing Bunny, Natalia packed Bunny's blankie for me. Natalia actually got quite carried away, and I had to stealthily sneak things back out of my suitcase. Currently sitting in my closet at home under a pile of clothes waiting to be ironed are a baby doll, a Barbie, a Little People dad, and what Natalia calls her Harry Potter book which is a hard-backed journal on which she has "written" pages and pages of stories. However, in addition to Bunny and her blankie, I did end up with a few bonus items that made the transcontinental trek. My hotel room currently includes an Angry Bird, a chair for the Little People dad, a My Little Pony, a pair of working miniature binoculars, and a "guitar" made out of a Jello box and rubber bands.
Housekeeping is going to think I'm nuts, but I shouldn't get bored in my hotel room this week!
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