The Little Things

Peter has deployed before, but the last time he did I had a dear friend and her sweet kiddos (Love you Kim!) living with me. So this kinda feels like the first one. Last time, I had one of my best friends at home with me all the time! :) Not to say that the kids and I didn't miss him, or it wasn't hard, but it certainly didn't feel as difficult or lonely when we had the distraction and awesome company of another family with us through the whole thing. And let me tell you, having another Mom in the house all day, every day, was amazing! The two of us tag teamed and handled every kid issue/need, chore, errand or tear and I didn't feel during that whole time the single-parentness that often comes with deployment. Now, I have amazing neighbors around who have offered to help if I need anything or watch the kids if something comes up, and that is so sweet and wonderful, but not quite the same as another live-in parent sharing all the responsibilities of daily life with you.

So this week I looked at my sweet boys and thought...Wow, they are getting shaggy! and I realized that for this first time in a year I need to take them to get their hair cut...And that I will need to remember to do that several times over the next nine months! That isn't one of the things I'm use to having on my to-do list. Daddy get's his hair cut every two weeks and about every other time he takes the boys and I don't ever see the process, they just come home as handsome as ever, all clean cut. After I noticed this I told the boys we needed to go get cuts and my oldest said, "Yes! Thank you Mom, my hair is getting SO BIG!"...I had no idea he was concerned about it LOL! But Daddy gets it cut so often he's use to it being pretty short. We went to the closest barber shop near our neighborhood and Samuel says to me with a serious face, "This isn't where Daddy takes us." I assured him that they would do just as good of a job at this place, but he wasn't so sure.

Well Samuel was right, it wasn't quite the same. But I think that was my fault! My mind went blank when the lady asked me how they wanted their hair cut. Uhh.....no, I don't actually. So I asked Joshua, "Do you know what Daddy usually asks them to do?" He couldn't remember exactly but told her what he thought it might be. So she clipped away and it turned out alright in the end. :)

It's amazing how much older they look after a haircut! I wish time would slow down. :/

So another busy week goes by and haircuts, among other things, are slowly revealing themselves as I realize what is left undone when Daddy isn't home to take care of it. While my to-do list grows and schedules get adjusted to make room for other things, I'm super thankful for my 4 helpers as we feel Daddy's absence, even in the little things.