Welcome Back

I am a very happy wife this weekend. Charles returned home on Friday after a spending a week in Yorkshire working on his PhD thesis. It is so nice to have him home. Our home feels much more complete with him here.

Over the past couple of years I have learned that the times when Charles goes away are good indicators to me of how at home I feel here in England – either positively or negatively. These are the times when I am most aware that I live far from my family since Mom cannot just pop over to stay or I cannot just go home for a couple days. At the same time, these are the times when I am aware that God has given us a good community to live in here where people look after you. People were so generous with their time – offering to help with Jack, have us around for meals, etc. I am very thankful for the community we have here.

The thing that I reflected on most this past week, however, was how much I missed Charles’s help in parenting. Parenting solo is hard work! There is no one to help with bath time, no one to get up when the birds start singing at 5:45 AM on that beautiful sunny morning, no one to help clean pants after yet another potty-training accident, no one to lay on the couch with at night after the house (hopefully) becomes quiet. I have a lot of respect for single parents. I know a lot of single parents who do it very well and my hat goes off to them. At the same time, I am thankful that this is not my current path, and God-willing, will never be. I am very happy that I have a partner to share in this parenting task. And it is obvious to me that Jack is very happy that his Daddy is part of the picture as was apparent throughout the week as he would comment on all the other Daddies around and even ask if I could call other Daddies around to play. Thank God for little boys who love their daddies AND thank God for husbands who love their wives.