This evening Vivi and I were drawing when she looked over at me with big sad eyes and asked, “Is amorrow a weekend day?” I shook my head. “No, honey, tomorrow is just Tuesday. It’s a few more days until the weekend.” Whereupon she burst into tears – heavy, gasping, wailing tears – and leapt onto my lap. “But I miss you tho much, Daddy! I want you to stay home on the weekend!” I hugged her, my shoulders getting wet from her tears, and said, “I do stay home on the weekend, honey! It was just the weekend yesterday and the day before, remember?” She snuffled out a “yes,” but then repeated, “I miss you tho tho much, Daddy! I wish every day was a weekend day so you could stay home!”
From all this, you’d think I was a road warrior salesman, sleeping in hotels 200 nights a year. As it is, I’ve taken one three-night trip in the past year – but it clearly had a big effect on Vivi, who since then (a month ago) has been telling me a half-dozen times a day, “I WUVE you, Daddeeeeeeee,” and who has been unusually cuddly with me (that is to say, she’s been very slightly cuddly).
She continued to weep in my lap for a few more minutes, begging, “Pwease stay home amorrow, Daddy!” I told her that I couldn’t stay home tomorrow because I have several meetings and quite a bit of pressing stuff to do (and goddamn if you don’t feel like an asshole saying that to a crying four-year-old), but that I could stay home another day later this week – and that next week we’d be on vacation. “I can check my calendar and find a day to stay home.”
This made her feel a little bit better, but she pushed her luck: “Daddy, can you stay home amorrow and watch ‘Curious George’ wif me?” I told her that I couldn’t, since my meetings were in the morning, but that I would go in late on Wednesday, which she told me was “the day aftew amorrow.” Snuffling less now, she said (again, heartbreakingly), “You check your calendar and find a day to stay home wif me.”
“I will, honey,” I said. “Should we look at my calendar right now and find a day for me to stay home?” She liked that idea, so we opened up my work email and made a couple appointments: to stay home on Wednesday morning to watch cartoons with her and to stay home the day before our vacation. Now she felt much better, and even said, “Amorrow, you go in to work early, right aftew bwushing my teef ad’ den you come home early, okay?” I told her this was no problem. “Oh, good! Then I can see you and pway wif you!”
In related news, today the College’s HR department informed me that I was more than 70 accrued days of time off. It looks like I have a good reason to use them!