Missing Dad

It's my parents' fault. They're here at our house, and for some reason, they think I should spend time talking to them instead of writing blog posts!

Jeff has been out of town since Tuesday. He's covering a basketball tournament that's usually here in town. But this year, he had to travel. And from our last conversation, I think he's over it!

We miss Jeff when he's gone. We all three have our jobs around the house, and when one cog of our wheel is gone, we definitely feel it.

So I did what you're supposed to do in those situations. I called Mama.

I asked them if they had plans for this week. Mama had a group meeting at her house Wednesday morning, so they drove up Wednesday afternoon. We didn't tell Biscuit they were coming, so when they showed up at school with me to pick him up Wednesday afternoon, Biscuit was really surprised.

Biscuit's school is having a book fair this week, and today was "grand" day, when the kids could invite their grandparents (or parents or aunts and uncles or whoever) to have lunch with them then go to the book fair). Since all his grandparents live far away, he doesn't usually get to participate in the grandparents events. So he was really excited to have them here this time.

And it's been a help to me, too.

Biscuit has really missed Jeff this time. 

Jeff and one of the photographers rode together to the tournament, so Jeff's car is still in our driveway. As we came home from school this afternoon, we rounded the curve, and I saw Jeff's car and got excited. And then I remembered that it's just his car, not him.

Well, Biscuit did the same thing. And I heard this little, "Aw," from the back seat.

"What's wrong?" I asked him. "Do you miss Dad?"

I could tell he was trying not to cry. He just nodded his head.

"It's okay to be sad that Dad isn't here," I told him. "We'll call him after dinner and see if he can talk."

We tried to call, but it went to voicemail. Today was his busiest day, and as the voicemail started, I was regretting telling Biscuit that he could talk to him. It occurred to me that Jeff might not be able to call us back, especially before Biscuit's bedtime.

But thankfully, right before Biscuit's shower, Jeff called. It was very sweet to hear how excited Biscuit was.

He had to tell him about his grandparents having lunch with him. And he was one of the pledge kids this morning on the Morning Show. Biscuit's school has an in-house TV show in the mornings, and a group of kids gets picked to say the school pledge and the Pledge of Allegiance. And Biscuit was one of those kids this morning.

"Dad! Everybody in the school saw me on TV! Can you believe that?!" Biscuit said. "I was nervous. I couldn't believe that I even remembered the pledges!"

It will be a happy homecoming when Jeff gets back, but I'm glad that in the meantime, we can talk to him on the phone and hang out with the grandparents.