Gone daddy gone

Yesterday, Eloise was dropped off at my in-laws' house for the first time in more than a week. In recent blogs, I've been sharing how I've been spending time away from GR and taking care of my six-month-old daughter while they've been out of town and my wife was at work.


Although there are times when I feel like I could stare at Eloise all day, I soon realized that would a bad idea and took her out a lot and often: going for walks, visiting parks, meeting with other stay-at-home dads, shopping for groceries, taking her to work, seeing my sister and mom, and various combinations of the above. And at home, I became the master of preparing bottles, feeding Eloise, comforting her, feeding her, reading, playing, making up games, listening and dancing to music (old reggae), talking and singing nonstop, washing pump supplies, freezing milk, doing laundry, eating while holding her, and making breakast, packing lunch, and preparing dinner for Wendy. I could see how any parent would want to stay home, be close to his or her child, and watch him or her grow. My mouth hurt from laughing and smiling with her so much and my heart broke from her becoming so comfortable around me. One day, she fell asleep on me three times!


So it was hard to see her go back to Wendy's parents, but good to see her loved by them so much--and admittedly rewarding to see her cry and miss me. If Wendy or I can't be at home with Eloise, it's perfect that they live so close and adore her. Most parents spend a ton of money on daycare and when they get it they are nothing but anxious about it. We have it made. Even better, my parents are thinking about moving up to L.A. as well.


That being said, when I got back to the magazine office yesterday and resumed archiving files for GR55, the articles seemed brand new and actually pretty fucking awesome. And when Eric and I started talking about our ideas for the next issue, I was even more stoked. (Seeing the Ashes of Time Redux screening wasn't bad, either.)


People I know have taken time off work to visit relatives in Asia, backpack through South America, ride bikes in Europe, or spend a week working with clay. All of that is rad. I shared quality time with my baby. That's something amazing that only she and I could do together and was actually pretty rad, too. Now I'm back at work on an amazing endeavor that only Eric and I could do together. I can't complain--and I still get time with her every morning and evening.