Dad's at Home

By hudsonmoon

Mon, 04 Apr 2016
  • 1445 reads
7 comments
 

This is an older piece of mine from 1997. I was home on disability after a serious back injury. I was forty three at the time. It's the year I got the writing bug. It's very short, but it's a nice memory.

***

Last night, as I lay quietly in bed nursing a herniated disc (my wife says that I howl like a wounded rhinoceros), my eight year old son Sam came into my bed and read me the first chapter of Roald Dahl's "George's Marvelous Medicine."

It was a wonderful moment. He was concerned about my well-being and wanted to do something to comfort me. It worked. That night I slept like a well-fed baby rhinoceros.

This is the arrangement: my wife Darcey works full time as a teacher in a nursery school, and I stay at home.

My day starts off with me trying to get Sam out of bed. (Actually, the day starts off with my wife trying to get me out of bed.) The only known way of getting Sam out of bed is to turn on the TV, crank up the Cartoon Network and yell, "Coco Puffs or Smacks!" It works every time.

After Sam gets on the bus, I do my best to straighten up the house without actually cleaning it. I've never once managed to fool my wife with this method, and have been scolded many times.
After a full day of hiding dirt, watching Rosie O'Donnell. and pretending I'm doing something constructive on the computer, it's time for Sam to come home. It's my favorite time of the day.

When Sam arrives, the two of us stand side by side and wave goodbye at the other kids on the departing school bus. Then we come into the house. Once inside, we get down to some of the most important things in life: homework, Battleship and Rugrats.

And waiting for mom, of course. We couldn't be this happy  without her.

Certificate U
Biography
Humour

Comments

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

This made me smile Hudson. It might be a good springboard for something longer now? 

 

Submitted by rosaliekempthorne on

Nice story.  And especially the last line.

Submitted by Bee on

I'd like more, too. 

X

Bee

Submitted by hudsonmoon on

Thanks, insert. I had these older, short pieces from the 90's stored on a cd. I've been going through them, hoping the'll inspire me to write about those days, especially as regards to Cystic Fibrosis. I only wrote about the fun stuff back then. I never wrote  about the disease and how we dealt with it. It didn't seem real at the time. The disease never really showed its ugly head until Sam hit his teens, but there was always the medicines and the physical therapy he had to endure starting at age five.  I feel I should be writing about it. The good and the bad. Thanks again.

Rich x

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

I have to say Rich, you had my sympathy as I'm suffering with a bad back at the moment, it's a killer to get out of bed in the morning, but reading your story of the fun you had with young Sam and how he kept your spirits up was great to read.

This cheered me up no end.

Jenny.

 

Submitted by hudsonmoon on

Ah, Jenny, thank you so much. Big hugs ot a fellow back sufferer. We're a whiny breed. At least that's what my wife says. lol. Always lovely to see your name pop up, Jenny. 

Rich x

 

Submitted by celticman on

yehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, for a constructive day. well spent and wonderful in every way, a herniated disc a small price to pay (ouch!)