Ken left early Sunday morning for a work conference in Nashville. Boy have we missed him and it has only been 24 hours. Darin had to give a talk in Sacrament that we forgot about until late Saturday night so he was writing it all morning and I had to teach my first Relief Society lesson in 15 years, I haven't taught in RS since I was a freshman in college. Yikes! It was a crazy morning and we were all missing Ken too because he normally handles the Sunday morning craziness and makes sure we all get out the door on time.
Anyway, Darin was pretty boastful when he said he was the man of the house so we ended up having the following conversation:
Mom: You know what that means then.
Darin: What?
Mom: That means that you are going to have to take care of everyone else's needs before you take care of yourself. Just like dad!
Darin: What???
Mom: Well, Dad always makes sure that we are comfortable and taken care of before he ever thinks of himself.
Nathan: Yeah, he is always the last to eat, he always helps the girls first.
Mom: Not just the girls he helps me and all of us too. Even if it's his special dinner.
Darin: (Gulp!)
Rose: I want to be the Man of the House!
Nathan: You can't, you're a girl.
Rose: Well, I can be like Daddy and I want to be the Man of the House! (With tears in her eyes)
Mom: Rose, do you want to have a hairy chest like Daddy;-)
Rose: (Giggling) No!
Mom: Well, you can be like Daddy in alot of ways but we'll have to call you a Woman of the House because you're a girl. How do you want to be like Daddy?
Rose: I want to help people like Daddy.
Then we all talked about how much we are missing our Daddy. It was lonesome during Sacrament meeting. Darin sat on the stand because he was giving a talk but Nathan was the helper for the Bishopric so he sat on the stand too. It was just me and the girls by ourselves. Nathan also held the microphone for a baby blessing today. I am so proud of him and how seriously he has been taking his priesthood duties.
I was half teasing Darin about being Man of the house the rest of Sunday and he was good sport. I noticed he actually did step up a little more and was pitching in with bedtime stuff that evening on his own. This morning he did too with getting all the trash collected and to the street when I had asked Nathan to do it. Nathan was doing it but Darin just started helping him just like Ken would have if he was here and he did the brunt of the work.
Last night Rose was so sweet telling her Dad about the conversation we had in the car and how even though she was a girl she was going to be just like him. Her tender little heart made her cry during their conversation until Ken told her how proud he was of her and how she does help her family so much.
I think we are all a lot more tender-hearted right now. We had a tough weekend with a stranger (more like creepy predator) approaching our boys outside while they were pulling weeds and mowing our neighbors lawn on Saturday. We definitely are feeling like our happy home is so precious, and missing our Dad who makes us feel protected and safe, so I let all the children sleep in my room last night. The boys dragged down a mattress from upstairs because my children are getting so big that we can't fit into one bed. Even while deciding who got to sleep on Mom's bed or on the mattress on the ground the kids all kept talking about being the "Man of the House". Darin ended up sleeping on the floor but he was quick to remind us if he was truly the "Man of the House" he would get to sleep next to Mom instead of giving it up for the other children because even Dad isn't that self-sacrificing:-)
After we were all settled we noticed that the light was still on up in the game room. Nathan and Rose immediately hopped out of bed saying, "I'm the Man of the House now!" and raced upstairs to turn all the lights off.
Ken hasn't traveled for work since the beginning of June and it has been really nice. In fact in the last 6 months he has only gone on 2 other business trips. Thankfully this one is super short. Even though I have 3 children who are willing to step in and be the "Man of the House" (notice Ginger wasn't mentioned at all she is clinging very happily to her role as the baby of the house:-) it has only made me miss Ken more. I wish he was here to bask in the beautiful spirit our children have and their reflection of him.
Here's a picture of Ken's Booth Area at HP Protect.
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