Spring break

This week is Spring Break, which may explain the relative lack of posts the several days.

The past few days have been a trip down memory lane for me, as I have been spending a lot of weekday morning time at home and around town with a preschool child – my youngest son James.

Back in the days when I was working full-time at Dutchess County’s Finest Daily Newspaper, most of my mornings were spent as Daddy to my then-preschool age kids -- Joey and Natalie. Then, when my wife Heidi would come home from her work, it would be tag-team parenting time, and I’d be off to the newspaper and/or Marist, usually shuttling between both jobs and wearing a groove into Washington Street in Poughkeepsie – the road that connects both fine facilities.

This week, James has Spring Break from his preschool program and we have Spring Break at Marist. But the rest of the world keeps on keeping on … Heidi’s working, other kids in school … so here I am, back at home, hangin’ with a rambunctious 5-year-old who likes SpongeBob and the Power Rangers (Note to Conor Shelley, James’ favorite punching bag: If you are reading this – wait, it’s St. Patrick’s Day, you are not reading anything – James is learning some new moves to use on you from the Power Rangers Samurais. You are in trouble!).

My days of working late into the night at the newspaper are over, and my kids are growing up fast. So this Daddy During The Regular Weekday routine is more of a one-week nostalgia trip, although the late-spring and summertime should offer a reprise to this fun madness.

For now, with the weather forecast looking sweet for the next two days, I’ll hang at home with Junior and start working on his T-Ball game. Next week, it’s back to the usual grind – practice, recruiting, meets … and of course complaining about the cold, since we practice outside every day starting on Monday.

See you then.