Skyping With Daddy ... In Little Rhody

Today, the first day of winter school vacation, was a long one. My oldest child was sick with a fever and sore throat. She’d made it until February without being sick and we didn’t have vacation plans, so I know things could be worse. Still, this first day seems so long without being able to go anywhere and my youngest acting very needy and being ultra clingy.

I know there are about 100 cool mommy things I could pull out of my sleeve that would make the day more fun, but I just don’t feel like it. That is the truth. It’s one of those days when, at one o’clock in the afternoon, the thing you are most looking forward to is bedtime — for yourself, hoping you’ll have a wonderful dream.

We were plodding on at home with our afternoon, with Max & Ruby in one room for my 2½ year old, and Good Luck Charlie in the other room for my 7 year old, trying to maintain the peace when the phone rang. It was Daddy. He had a surprise for us, a very cool surprise. He asked me to turn on the laptop and hit the Skype icon. We’ve had it for a while but never used it before and I don’t know why. All of a sudden, very magically to the girls I might add, he appeared live in real time, on the screen, in his office, sitting at his desk in Providence.

Skyping with Daddy for 20 minutes turned out to be a real treat for all of us. The girls thought it was super cool to see and talk to Daddy at the same time. They also loved how they could see themselves in a small picture box on the right hand of the computer screen. This might have been their favorite part. I kind of liked that part too — did I look old? How were my highlights showing up? Did they look blonde enough on Skype? It got pretty silly when the girls showed Daddy their tushies (pants on) and they laughed hysterically. Or when they decided to pick buggies and show Daddy and themselves too. Tons of little giggles were heard throughout the house!

So if you are a mom and having one of those days and are holed up in the house counting the hours, I mean minutes, down to bedtime, try Skyping someone you know. Who cares if they are only 20 minutes away? This is Rhode Island after all. 20 minutes here equals 2 hours anyplace else.