Daddy Time!

As the boys grow, their interests are turning to activities and sports that are tailor made for time with their Dad. I have held court for years with the boys at dance offs, rock band family marathons and sing alongs (most often to the glee soundtrack, of course). I can manage the impromptu soccer games in the front yard and bike rides around the neighborhood. We all love long walks, hide n' seek, and trips to the playground. But camping or mountain biking; snowboarding or golfing? Not my thing.

It's Daddy time.

It started with Daddy snowboard Sundays. At first, I embraced the Daddy snowboard sundays. It was time alone with Griffin, my baby left at home with me. When the weather turned warm, and the Sundays turned from skiing down hills to riding up them on bikes, I still enjoyed having Griffin all to myself.

This weekend I, once again, have my Griffin all to myself. Chris has taken Aidan and Brennan up to Canada for a camping trip with a group of Whoville dads and their kids. It is our family's first time partaking in an annual Whoville traditional dad and kid camping trip. It happens every year, at the same campsite, and has been occurring for years upon years. The Whoville Dads and kids drive six hours into the Canadian wilderness to Camp Pathfinder, an overnight camp set on an island with no running water, no electricity and no cell phone service. You pack what you can carry in, but you pack enough that you stay warm through the chilly Canadian fall evenings. Hikes, lake swims, zip lines, canoeing, rock walls - it is an outdoor lover's dream.

The boys were delirious over preparations for the trip. Chris was, honestly, if not just as excited as the boys, maybe even more so. Camping is his thing. He did all the shopping, all the preparing, and all the packing. The thought of a weekend spent in the forest with a lake as a shower gives me hives, but my hubbie and boys are over the moon. I am happy enough to share a special weekend at home with my Griffin. (We are spending the weekend "camping" in Mommy's room. The bed is comfy, the temperature warm and it has a working bathroom to boot! Much more my style.)

Until I realized, that soon, very, very soon, Griffin would be off to Camp Pathfinder with them too. Leaving me, all by myself.

It should sound like a dream. There is a part of me that is giddy over the thought of so much alone time. But there is a bigger part of me that is sad at this space. It is just another form of letting go. And I have never been all that good with the letting go.

This winter, we have planned for Griffin to hit the slopes with the clan on their Daddy snowboard sundays. He is overjoyed at the possibility. For me, it will be a day off from my boys and my first small step towards my last baby running with the pack of boys and their Dad. It will be me learning to let go.