"i'm done with this"

For almost two months now, Beloved has been staying home every Monday to take care of the girls. Pink loves this, and Lizzie is getting some bonding time in with Daddy, plus he gets to watch the girls grow and learn things like how to sit up and what the "Reverse" card in Uno does.

We are all better for the time he spends with them while I'm at work and, for many reasons, I wish this weren't just a one-year arrangement. This one phrase struck me as so funny, so powerful, and gave me such a sense of solitude (much like his realization a couple weeks ago that a friend wrote about):

"I'm done with this." Not actually done, but tired of trying to make the 4 month old feel better through all-day-long fits with her sore gums; tired of having someone he loves stop by without notice; tired of trying to carry laundry, a baby, and a 3 year old's book at the same time; tired of doing all of this while exhausted because he stayed up too late the night before and little ones are merciless when it comes to waking up in the morning.

So when he said those words at 7pm, after 12 straight hours of crying, no naps, and everything else that comes with a normal day, I sent him to veg with a Klondike bar while I did both baths. He came up for a dose of giggles and then went straight back downstairs.

He's getting a break while I'm on Easter vacation and then he's right back at it in April. He'll be so happy to be back at home with the girls, carrying the weight of that responsibility. And now he understands me just a little bit more.

And I think he resembles Superman just a little bit more.