This evening Isaac made a discovery. "Whole family together!" he announced with happy surprise. Then he tried to list us, but since he has trouble counting past two, he repeated himself a little bit. "Isaac, and Mama, and Dad, and Yalty, and Mama, and Isaac, and Dad! And Yalty! And Dad!"
So what prompted his enthusiasm about the "whole family" (including Walt) being together?
In addition to his regular job, Craig has been working extra shifts at another lab in Berkeley. (This happens several times a year.) It was only supposed to last two weeks, but his group ended up getting extra time, so Craig has been working overtime all month long -- and since the Berkeley lab runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, many of his shifts have had exhausting hours. Did I mention this was in addition to his regular job?
Luckily for me and Isaac, Craig always comes home for dinner and bedtime, so his weekday routine seems unchanged (at least to us). But by the weekend his absences have started to add up. On this Saturday and Sunday, for example, Craig left for work at 4:00 a.m. and didn't get back home until 2:00 p.m. -- and by the time Isaac, who had been napping, woke up, Craig was having his own nap, so they saw very little of each other.
Even though Isaac got to spend all Friday with Craig while I worked, I know Isaac notices the loss of their weekend days together. He doesn't know what day of the week it is, but he does know he isn't seeing as much of his father as he'd like. That's why he's so happy when we're finally all together.
And what did Craig do when he woke up from his nap today, knowing that he'd have to get up at 4:00 a.m. on Monday morning and go to two different jobs? He got right to work at his other job -- he planned dinner, went to the store to fill the propane tank for our grill, cooked dinner, cleaned the kitchen, got Isaac dressed for bed, and read to Isaac.
What a man! He works at least three shifts.
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