Saturday 7 July 2012

Does he miss us?

Number One Son seems to have hit another phase of personal development. The previous occasions we have been away, he has been visibly missing the one not present and calling him/her. When Archaeologist Husband was recently away for two weeks, there were signs our son was settling to the occasional periods with just one parent. His potty behaviour was improving all the time and there were no sudden reverse developments. When I and Archaeologist Husband were skyping each other, Number One Son was more interested in admiring his own image visible on the web cam window than any sight of his father or the sound of his voice. Then he just ran away to play with his cars or watch a cartoon.

Number One Son clearly noticed that there was an absence in the master bedroom when he woke up in the morning and was let through the baby gate. He did point to this fact in the first two mornings or so but there was no great burst of emotion or any sign of tears. There was just a muted recognition from his part that Daddy is away. He stayed in good spirits throughout but this may have been helped by the fact that the first day Archaeologist Husband was away was one of those days with a birthday party. Also, getting a pair of remote-controllable Cars2 racing cars with his favourite McQueen and his nemesis Bernoulli for a Fathers’ Day present distracted him as well. The weather was marginally better on that particular weekend so we were able to have a nice stroll down the New Walk and in the Lanes and managed to arrange a trip to the sunny Abbey Park while waiting for the car to be fixed. Then there was the Finnish midsummer and Number One Cousin’s birthday party with yummy non-dairy vanilla ice cream to ease the possible pain.

The next period of absence will probably be harder since first I will be gone for four days just before posting this and then Archaeologist Husband will fly away for a fortnight. This period seems to be devoid of parties or national celebrations. However, there may be a sauna evening if our head mistress’s sauna will be installed in time before they fly to Finland for summer holidays.


Just a short recap after I came back. Did he miss me? He had been very huggy the first day I was away and wanted a cuddle when I picked him up from the nursery after my flight had landed. He also wanted to have more physical contact and hugs in the evening. He also cherished a small memento I brought (a fridge magnet in the shape of a bright red Vespa). After that, it was all back to normal. So, yes, the he misses us but then he seems to survive since he knows we will come back. I just hope he does not get too attached to getting a small present every time...

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