Daddy Duty!

I wish I had a picture to post of this, but I don’t, so a quick story will have to do. (I must record this for posterity)

Last Thursday, I promised a dear friend that I would pick up her child from 2K because she was in a bind and didn’t have a way to get him. I thought it would be no problem because McCanless is in the same class and we would just go eat and play for the afternoon…until I realized that I was giving an exam on that Friday and wouldn’t be finished until around 1:00!

I knew Mel had off, so I reluctantly asked him. To my surprise he agreed without even one complaint. He even sounded a bit cocky as if he could handle it even better than I could. Fine, I decided. “I won’t be home until about 1:15,” I told him.

To my even greater surprise, when I called to check on him around 12:30, he had not two toddlers, but three. Another friend of McCanless’ cried when she saw that Mel was taking McCanless and Parker, so Mel offered to take her along for the day! I guess Mel made a great impression on her. (Apparently, Mel didn’t take McCanless to school this day, but showed up to pick up Parker at 11:00 and stayed and played with the kids and “helped” out with the play dough until 12:00, time to go home)

Laykn’s mom quickly accepted Mel’s offer and the four were off. Mel was left to fend for himself…in McDonald’s at lunch hour, with three, three-year-olds!

I was so very proud of him, especially after he called me at 1:20 on the dot to see where I was. By this time, he had made it through check out, ordered all three the exact same thing (coke included, which McCanless has never had to my knowledge, except what my mother sneaks her on a few occasions) AND had taken them all to the bathroom at the exact same time, which he said happened just as they all sat down to eat.

When I got home, Mel had taken Lakyn home and had McCanless and Parker in the bed with him…trying to take a nap. McCanless and Parker were talking, laughing, kicking the covers up, and making faces at each other.

Mel was on the very edge of the bed sound asleep.