Tuesday's the long day. The one day at the office we push through the afternoon snoozies, past the worn off caffeine and stay open late. And as I watched Dr. Everythingwillbealright getting more and more frustrated as the sun started to fade, I realized something - we have Tuesday Trend. As, one by one, tired moms brought in their kids, the ones with lots of notes from the principal, the anger problems, the teen pregnancies, the drug use, the not even thinking about filling out a college application and the I give ups, it hit me, there are no dads around.
Not one Tuesday afternoon dad in sight for as long as I can remember.
We do have dads at other times. Lots of dads. Actually, there's something kind of sexy about a dad sitting in the waiting room, smiling at the kids, taking care of business.
I read an article the other day about Stephen Hawking. Among other things, he was asked about the most joyful moment he's known, "I would go back to 1967, and the birth of my first child. My three children have brought me great joy." After all he has accomplished, that's what he said. After today I can count at least four more kids that will never have that.
I'd like to think that I could have raised a pretty cool kid on my own, one that's calm and sweet and sensible and bright and wants to change the world for the better in her own way. Go Girl Power and all that. But as I watch Shawn and the moms walk in and out of exam rooms, kids trailing behind, discouraged, not a lot of joy, I realize that an hour here and there of some testosterone, some goal making, some boundary setting and some med adjusting probably isn't enough to make up for an absent Baby Daddy.
'til next Tuesday...
No comments:
Post a Comment