# I'm no longer a single dad **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 29, 2011, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-no-longer-a-single-dad/604450 "2011-11-29T14:28:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-no-longer-a-single-dad/604450/1 "2011-11-29T14:28:56Z")
OK, surviving five days without losing either of the two toddlers while TokyoWife was off [del]playing[/del] on a work trip doesn’t rank up with enlisting in the seals, but I have a new found appreciation for the struggles of single parents. It wasn’t too bad, considering that Didi, our almost 14-month old boy, still breast feeds and thought that if he woke up every hour, on the hour, he wouldn’t miss his mother sneaking back into bed. For 5 nights, kid, you’ve woken up 30 times, and she wasn’t there, but thanks for checking! At 3, Beta-chan was very cooperative. Helpfully doing things for Daddy, even when Daddy didn’t need help. “No dear, the glass bowls can stay in the drawer. And thank you for putting them back. Let’s work on \*setting them down \*next time so we don’t get all of these little shreds of glass all over. And don’t move until I get this swept up.” Dinners were cooked, baths taken, medicine doled out, lotion applied, hair dried, cries comforted, sometimes in pairs. . . It’s nice to have Mommy back home. ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-no-longer-a-single-dad/604450/2 "2011-11-29T14:41:10Z")
“Mommy”? I think you meant All Powerful Amazing Superior Being. I hope the rose petals you threw before her delicate feet were hand plucked, and that you meant what you said when you were weeping upon her return 😃 ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-no-longer-a-single-dad/604450/3 "2011-11-29T14:47:26Z")
Good daddies appreciate good mommies. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-no-longer-a-single-dad/604450/4 "2011-11-29T14:56:39Z")
Didi is crying now to be fed, and I’m on the Dope. He, he, he. Thanks Mommy, I hope you enjoyed your five days of uninterrupted sleep. Beta-chan told me today that she didn’t need Mommy. It’s interesting to watch how a toddler tries to handle the stresses in life. Being the good Daddy that I am, I video taped it for future arguments with Mommy. Not really, I told her how much it must hurt to not have Mommy. My wife got back from the conference in Sydney, and Beta-chan didn’t want anything to do with her, until the souvenirs were opened, then all was back to normal. “Forever” is pretty fleeting when you’re three. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-no-longer-a-single-dad/604450/5 "2011-11-29T16:16:20Z")
lol This is great. Five days of doing it all…it IS easier together, huh. 😉 Glad your world is back in orbit. One time I was trying to unload the car of groceries, and my little boy, in the pouring rain, when the phone rang. “I need a husband!” I wailed to my mother. “You don’t need a husband,” she said. “You need a bag boy.” ---
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-no-longer-a-single-dad/604450/6 "2011-11-29T20:16:33Z")
> [@TokyoPlayer](#): > > _snip_ > Dinners were cooked, baths taken, medicine doled out, lotion applied, hair dried, **cries comforted, sometimes in pairs. . .** (bolding mine) Which of the kids was crying with you? 😉 Nothing like a change of routine to make everyone appreciate everyone else! ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-no-longer-a-single-dad/604450/7 "2011-11-30T03:40:49Z")
> [@Becky2844](#): > > lol This is great. Five days of doing it all…it IS easier together, huh. My wife have conferences and seminars on weekends a lot, so I’ve done two days many times, but with five, then you can’t wing it just as much. Both of us work, and have a certain degree of freedom. Me more than her, so I tend to do the taking to daycare, picking up and more of the cooking. She has the night shift, and her being Taiwanese, we co-sleep with the crying it out method not an option. We both put in fairly equality, but with two rug rats, there is a lot of work. With just a glimpse of full time care of them without the usual backup, I can’t say I can truly understand what single parents face, but it does make me appreciate my wife more. Sometimes you overlook that in the daily rush. **6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast** , thanks for reminding me to pick up some flowers. . . ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-no-longer-a-single-dad/604450/8 "2011-11-30T15:11:05Z")
Goodness! Didi is already so big! I remember the posts from the day he was born (how your gorgeous wife managed to look so serene and pulled together, I don’t know) like it was yesterday. Irishfella had his own daddy daycare experience last week- I really liked being appreciated on my return, and flowers help! ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-no-longer-a-single-dad/604450/9 "2011-12-02T03:46:06Z")
Wait…shouldn’t the parents who were alone with the kids for days be the ones getting appreciation gifts? Parenting is so confusing. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-no-longer-a-single-dad/604450/10 "2011-12-02T14:03:25Z")
We take cash. Parenting isn’t that difficult. ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-no-longer-a-single-dad/604450/11 "2011-12-02T14:18:21Z")
> [@TokyoPlayer](#): > > **6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast** , thanks for reminding me to pick up some flowers. . . ..so you can sprinkle more petals on the floor..? 😃