April 4, 2012

Daddy

First and foremost!!!
Do y'all really mean to tell me only 7 people want a free Chick-Fil-A kids' meal? Really? Thursday is the last day you can enter, so go here. I'm sure the 7 people who entered would appreciate if you didn't, but let's make it a little more fun, yes?

Alrighty, moving on -

I have to tell you about why my heart has just been breaking the past few days. Trey has been away in the ever-allusive "field" this week. Of course, I miss him and am looking forward to him coming home, but Andrew.  Ughh.. it's been hard.
Up until recently he hasn't really missed Daddy when he leaves. Not that he's been able to convey at least. Now, on a normal week even, he requests his Daddy multiple times a day. It's easy to say, "he'll be home around dinner time" and move on. Not so easy when he's not coming home.

He continues to ask for him throughout the day, but it gets bad when we sit down for dinner. He's upset that Daddy isn't home for dinner and makes it known. His little face turns into a frown and says a big, "NO", when I tell him 4-3-or 2 more wake ups. We have to go through this multiple times a day.

It really did me in today when we were at the PX.
We parked and started walking in. There was a soldier walking a few yards ahead of us. Drew catches sight of him and VERY enthusiastically yells, "Daddy". (That uniform makes them all look alike to me even, so imagine from kids point of view) Of course said soldier is oblivious and didn't even turn around, never mind respond to him. He kept yelling for who he thought was his Daddy and in his mind, was being ignored after not seeing him for days.

I did good with redirecting him, but wow... my heart. It breaks. You should see the smile he gives some of these soldiers and then see his face turn when he gets a closer look and realizes it's not who he thinks it is. This is only for a week and I can see the effect it's having on our boy. Soon it's going to be 3 weeks, then a month, and then 9 months.
How are we going to handle this? How is our 2 year old going to deal? I know he's going to miss him and there's no way he's going to understand. I'm terrified that he's going to be mad at Trey. I don't really know what to expect though.

I got a little sidetracked, but that's where my mind goes. I know we'll handle it as best possible. Trey will make up for it over the 3-day weekend he has and any time he can. It will be easier when Drew is older and can understand what Daddy does for a living. But for now. Wow. It's hard.

4 comments:

Kristy said...

Not really the same issue, but I thought I'd share a funny story along similar lines:

Bennett has been calling "Daddy" after soldiers in uniform for months now. He's finally starting to reserve it just for white guys that sort of match Cam's build and hair color. Sometimes he just likes to call attention to the fact that, "Hey! That guy/girl is dressed just like Daddy."

The funniest episode was a few weeks ago in Albertsons. There was an African-American soldier shopping for produce as we cruised by in the cart. Bennett points and shouts, "Daddy!" and I answer, "Yes, that man is wearing a uniform like Daddy's." This soldier then turns around, looks us both up and down, and then tells Bennett, in his best thick Southern accent, "Boy! You too WHITE to be my son!" I about peed myself!

It will be tough in the coming months, but let's all thank the Lord Almighty for the invention of Skype (no matter how infrequently it may work "over there".)

Kristy said...

And, yes, I would appreciate it if you DIDN'T encourage anyone else to enter. I want an excuse to drive to Chik-fil-A!

Mel said...

I can only imagine how heartbreaking that is. I hope you find some women with older children to give you some insight on how to get through those separations.

In the meantime, I'm hugging you from afar!

Expat Girl said...

Madison did this last week and it made the time in the field so much harder.She would ask for Daddy throughout the day and go looking for him for good night kisses. Dont even get me started on how loud she shouted when she saw white trucks driving down the road : (