It worked, for a moment

It was over…the J had just sassed me for what felt like the hundredth time that night (truthfully it was more like 2 or 3) but I was not going to have any of it. Having already placed her in time-out, the next step was clear… but just as I was about to lower the boom, she said;

“I love you Daddy.”

Sigh… no fair…

The Kemp's Blog Players present:

A play in one scene: “5-Year Old Smack-down”

Cast of Characters:
Narrator: The Voices in My Head
Daddy: Kemp
Sweetie: The Peanut Butter
Sissy: The Jelly

Setting: Kankakee, Illinois - Friday, December 21, 2007. 7:45 AM.

The wind was out of the SE at 8 MPH, with an air temperature of 37 degrees Fahrenheit. It was foggy with visibility at 2.50 miles…

Sweetie: “Daddy, I was good this morning wasn’t I?”

Daddy: “Yes sweetie, you were very good. Thank you.”

Sissy: “Was I Daddy?”

Narrator: “She wasn’t…”

Sweetie: “Not really Sissy…”

Narrator: “Sisters…”

Time Apart

Regular readers of my blog know that The Peanut Butter was diagnosed with a “seizure disorder” a little more than a year ago and was prescribed medication to combat it.

When she started kindergarten this year, HoMu and I, along with her teacher, noticed that at times she wasn’t paying attention in class, was easily distracted, seemed distant and un-interested and sometimes would act as though she didn’t know something even though she did the day or even hours before.

Like we did before she was put on the medication, we started researching the side-effects of her medication again and discovered that these were indeed side-effects of taking it. So at her bi-annual exam with her Neurologist, we discussed with the doctor and it was decided that we would wean her off of the medication and, for the last 8 weeks, we’ve been doing just that.

After being dropped from 4 doses a day to 2, she showed a drastic increase in her testing and schoolwork, scoring a 27 on a numbers test weeks before when she was under full dosage to an astounding 49 (out of 50) when her dosing was cut in half.

She is now totally off the meds and, knock on wood, has not had a seizure during that time… and today she starts her 48-hour, in-hospital EEG at the University of Chicago Hospital (also where they were born) to see if she is still having them (she was having them in her sleep, hence the 48-hour EEG).

This is significant for two reasons: First; hopefully we can find out if she has, as most children who develop this type of seizure disorder do, grown out of the seizures.

Second: this means that she and The Jelly will be separated… for 3 days/2 nights.

For those of you reading that don’t have twins, everything you’ve heard about the connections that twins have with each other is, for the most part, true… and in the past, their separations have not worked out very well.

So this time we’re trying something different.

I am teaching two ‘Introduction to Public Speaking’ classes this semester and this week are final exams and final speeches, so I can’t cancel class. HoMu will be staying with The PB in the hospital and I will be down here with The J. But since I teach tonight until 10:00, and in an attempt to make The J more at ease, one of my SIL’s graciously said that The J can stay with them… so rather than staying up late until I pick her up… and rather than staying with a set of grandparents, she will be with one of her Aunts and Uncles and three of her cousins…

Hopefully my nephews and niece will help The J get through this first night… my wife will help The PB get through her first night… and me? Well… in front of people I will be the strong father, stoic and solid. But when I get home tonight, with no one around, and when I start thinking about my wife and daughters and what one of them is going through at the hospital and the other is going through away from her sister… I’m sure I’ll sit down for a nice cry…

And I have no problem with that…

A Sign of Things to Come

“The female of the species is more deadly than the male.” - Rudyard Kipling

Oh you have no idea Rudyard… you have no idea…

This past weekend, Honey Mustard and I took The Peanut Butter & The Jelly to the Illinois State Fair in Springfield to see Corbin Blue/Drake Bell in concert.

Who’s Corbin Bleu you ask?

He’s one of the stars of the evil empire’s Disney’s “High School Musical,” he also starred in The PB’s favorite movie; “Jump In.”

There were approximately 7300 people at the concert, with the breakdown something like this:

• Girls anywhere from ages 3-17; 6899


• Boys anywhere from ages 3-17; 100


• Mothers/grandmothers/etc; 291


• Fathers/grandfathers/etc; 10

Ok, there were probably more than 10 men there, but not a whole-lot more… I was definitely outnumbered and realize I could have been trampled and overpowered at any given moment, but that is part of being a good father. And when The PB & The J told me that I was the best Daddy in the world for taking them to the concert... well, my heart was bursting with pride and joy.

When the first act, Jordan Pruitt, came out the audience response was a succinct; meh.

When Drake Bell (of Nickelodeon’s Drake & Josh) came out… the audience roared with approval.

When Corbin came out, all I heard was the squealing of thousands of girls… something along the lines of "eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee"

That was immediately followed by a semi-constant ringing in my ears that went away… well, it really hasn’t yet…

The PB & The J enjoyed themselves immensely… and were dancing and singing with all the other girls in attendance.

The PB & The J are five… and we saw plenty of other girls around the same age… with their High School Musical or “I heart Corbin” t-shirts on… teeny-bopping around, screaming, and generally acting like a concert-goer.

But seeing all of this – seeing the throngs of girls in a tizzy ready to rip the eyes out of any other girl that made eyes at Corbin – made me realize one thing;

I am oh-so-screwed…

It’s gonna be me… HoMu… and The PB & The J… no other males in the house…

Me… and three females…

Pray for me…

In all seriousness though; Bell wasn’t bad. His musical influences are The Beatles, and you can definitely hear it in his music and also in his fashion with his publicty photo on the state fair’s website looking very early-Beatlesesque;

As far as Corbin goes, he’s been working out since “High School Musical.” Midway through his show he removed his shirt to reveal a tank top with a glittery peace sign, and his muscles were a’bulging with more than a few of the mother’s oooing and aahing… never mind the fact that he’s only 20…

And one other question; when the HELL did concert t-shirts get so ridiculously expensive? $30, are you kidding me?

Happy Father's Day!!

To all my fellow dads out there Happy Father's Day.

And to my own dad, Happy Fathers Day, I love you and truly appreciate everything you've ever done for me in my life. Thank you.

I am part of a special collaborative post over at The Blogfather's today about our thoughts on being a father, go check it out with this handy, dandy link.

Are these the little girls I carried?

Honey Mustard had class the other night and wasn’t home yet.

The Peanut Butter and The Jelly were playing with their dolls so I quickly went down to the laundry room and got some laundry to fold... yes, I fold laundry...

I brought the laundry up, put it down near the couch and then had to put the dog outside as she was dancing a jig and I know if I didn’t put her out now, she’s piddle all over the floor.

So I put the dog out, brought her in and gave her some water. All told, about 7 minutes I was away from the laundry basket.

I go into the front room to fold it, and to my surprise, my daughters... my 4 ½ year old daughters... had folded it all.

You read that right... they folded the laundry... all of it... nicely... and had it in perfect stacks...

I remember them not being able to hold their heads up like it was yesterday... and now here they are folding laundry (and nicer than the job I can do quite frankly)...

I don’t want to sound like a schmo here... but I was amazed. I know, I know, I know... they’re getting older, there are a lot of things they can do... but it still surprised me and brought home one, simple fact that, I think, some parents tend to forget...

Time.

Flies.

Enjoy it while you can...

Reason # 1223

This morning, as I’m leaving for work, The Peanut Butter and The Jelly are eating breakfast. After I kiss and hug them and HoMu goodbye, I walk out the door. As I’m walking down the sidewalk to the garage, I hear the door open and The PB says to me, “Happy Valentine’s Day Daddy”… I go back to the door and tell her Valentine’s Day was yesterday, and she responded, “I know, I just wanted you to come back inside so I could tell you I love you again…”

I love being a daddy…