The Great Outdoors

 What a day we had.  The sun was shining, the air was fresh and the kids were happy, what more could you ask for?  Oh yeah, my wife?  Well, that's what you get for bringing your work home with you, she was stuck inside.  Five hours of periodic visits from her children for snacks, drinks and in a couple instances fixing boo-boo's was all she got.  One such boo-boo required nothing more than a big hug and time as our oldest was hit, as said in Kung Fu Panda, in the tenders.  This was a first for him, although we all know it won't be the last, and he did not feel great at all.  He acted like a veteran (someone that had been hit before) as he curled up into the fetal position, crying, and calling for mommy and who could blame him, I would still do the same, although I wouldn't really want my mom to show up.
  The day started the night before when the kids were warned that the earlier they woke up the more housework they would need to help us with (wishful thinking).  After all, my wife and I were up until 2am as she had work to complete and I had to keep up on whatever movie was being replayed for the 10th week in a row.  Chronicles of Riddick was last nights movie, again.  As for the kids, they didn't want to do any housework, but since when did housework scare a kid away from being up for the morning cartoons, ones that mom and dad would normally turn off.  You see, my kids, like most kids, are smarter than us and they knew we may not be up first thing and that meant they could watch all the superhero, action cartoons they wanted. 
 We eventually dragged our butts out of bed and joined the kids downstairs where breakfast was served and the day was laid out for all of us.  Mom, work, work, work.  Dad, clean out the garage, keep an eye on the kids, laundry.  Kids, stay outside playing, have fun, and leave mom alone.  Off we go to get to our tasks completed.
 The garage, well let's just say that I moved a few things around in between the road hockey games with the kids.  What's more important, cleaning the garage or showcasing hockey skills with the kids.  Did you know that mediocre skills come across like you are Wayne Gretzky when playing with 7 year olds.  My neighbour and I were having a blast and at one point it was just two 43 year old wannabes playing, where did the kids go.  If our wives had seen us then, we would have been put on time outs for sure, after all there were four other kids that were not playing hockey, where were they?  We rounded up all the kids (7 in total), had them playing within view and carried on.  Hey, they didn't want to watch us so it was there fault we couldn't see them.  I know, not very mature, but I had a hockey game to play and besides, we could hear them, in fact the whole street could hear them.


Me versus my son, He won

 As for the laundry, well there is a load in the wash waiting for me right now and approximately three more sitting on the floor.  Hey, I deserve a day off once in a while so back off.  The kids don't want to shower so clean clothes won't make a difference.  I kid, they did shower and we can turn the clothes inside out to get an extra day.  My wife's not laughing and says that my performance review is coming up so I better pick it up a notch.  I am looking for a pay increase, but with 4 bosses and one supreme being I suspect that will be impossible.  At the end of the day everyone accomplished what they set out for and all were exhausted.  My wife got some work done and was up most the night getting the rest completed, although she would have accomplished more if she had stopped looking in on me and the kids.  I think she was jealous or didn't trust me, either way she probably made the smart decision.  It is so nice to see temperatures that allow us outside playing like this, I only wish I had the video camera on during our hockey games.  Let's hope that the weather is here to stay, as it is freezing rain right this minute (12:30am).  I hope all of you were able to get outside today, act like a kid yourself and enjoy the weather.