Daddy’s Going Away…
As Elliott has been in our lives for almost eight weeks now, I’ve been lucky enough to modify my work schedule so my travel has been greatly reduced with her arrival. My job generally requires me to travel 1-2 weekends a month and that’s a lot for a father of a newborn. I’ve got co-workers who have been going in my place, but duty calls and I need to head to Charlotte this weekend. I fly out tomorrow morning at 6am and return Monday morning. 4+ days away from my little girl. It’s going to be even harder than I thought it would be when I used to think about having to travel in the general sense. I know it isn’t earth-shattering and I know a lot of parents have to travel even more than I do, but it doesn’t make it any easier.
Elliott is at an age where she’s changing so rapidly. It is amazing to think of how she changes from day-to-day and how far she’s come in the past eight weeks. Just in the past few days, she is starting to follow objects and people when they move. She’s starting to reach out and try to grab her sheep “friends” on her swing’s mobile. Hell - she’s wearing size 1 diapers now!
Things move at such a rapid pace, I hate missing even a day. I know she’s in great hands with Kari and Elle will still give me her special little smile and laugh when I play with her, but I know she’s going to be different and a little bigger when I come home Monday.
Part of me thinks that I’ll get used to having to travel and I’m sure childhood development specialists will probably tell me that she’s too young to notice my absence. But I don’t want to get used to it. I want to feel a little pain when I have to go away so my return is all the better.
And I want to believe that she will miss me. She’ll wonder why she hasn’t held onto her Dad’s thumbs while he tells her about the upcoming day. She’ll wonder why Dad isn’t holding her hand while he feeds her a bottle early in the morning. She’ll wonder why she hasn’t gotten to take a nap on her Dad’s chest for a few days. Don’t worry - I’ll explain it all to her and she’ll understand. She’ll know how much her Daddy loves her and he’ll be back home soon to show it.