30 Days of Littles Day 22

While a schedule and routine is important for structure in a young child's life flexibility is just as important. I am learning that in this time that Paul is away (we're one week down, two more to go!) Paul's never been away from us for quite this long before and the times he has been away he has been able to call us several times throughout the day.
This time he isn't able to call til after 11pm, and then only for a few minutes as he needs to get to bed so he's ready to start the next day.

I think the lack of talking to Paul combined with the fact that Judah's getting older is making him miss Paul a lot more than he has in the past.

A couple of times this week I have let Judah stay up late so he could talk to Paul when he called. While Judah just chattered on and on about motorcycles (his current favorite thing in the world!) it cheered him up to hear Paul's voice.
Judah's also been refusing to eat much of anything, and while it concerns me, I definitely understand. I have a hard time wanting to eat or do anything when Paul is away too! The other evening I took the boys to the grocery store just to pick up special things so Judah would eat - peaches (his current favorite fruit, I think because it's sticky and makes a mess!), cheese strings (he won't eat just cheese, but cheese strings he will - go figure!), drinkable yogurt, pepperoni, pumpernickle bread and animal crackers.

Those foods, in addition to eggs, are all he will currently eat.

So while I earlier said that the boys eat what we eat and they go to bed on schedule each night, being flexible and adapting to meet their emotional needs is very important.

And while it is fairly unique to military families to have the dad go away, every family goes through situations where you need to be flexible for the sake of your child's well being.