These are the times that try men's souls...
-- Thomas Paine, 1776

Okay, so maybe not the same kind of crisis, but in my eyes at least, one nonetheless.

2 months early, the terrible two's are certainly kicking in. Coupled with some obvious separation anxiety, a stuffy nose, potentially second-year molars on their way out, and maybe even another budding ear infection, and a weekend spent at home and primarily indoors compliments of one final Nor' Easter for the year, makes for plenty of elongated and often hi-pitched, lung workouts.

On the other hand, you've got to figure that with all of his screaming & carrying on lately, that his aerobic capacity and VO2 MAX scores will certainly be off the charts.

Luckily for me, it all seems to have also coincided with my first solo evening outing in quite some time. Kim had her night out with Bon Jovi, I had the next night out with your Washington Capitals. I actually had a very nice time, and got to see lots of old friends from the arena. It was odd to be out without either Kim and/or Harry, but I did my best to be sociable.

Ever since then, Harry seems to have decided, and made it readily apparent to us that Mommy rules now (BTW, for those of you keeping score, the previous practice of Kim being MAma and me being maMA has changed almost completely to Mommee and Daddee... which is nice). There seems to be very little that I can do to soothe him lately, unless of course, Kim's not actually in the house. If she's there, but not in the same room, the world is certainly going to end in a huge fireball unless she makes it back pronto. And by fireball, I mean lots of screaming until there's no more air coming out (hold it for a few more seconds just to get Daddy's reaction), tears literally streaming down the cheeks (sometimes even projectile... yes -- PROJECTILE TEARS), and every once in a while, just for effect, the kicking feet are brought out.

I have apparently turned from bad cop into full-fledged evil-doer. The fingershaking "...no No NO" that many seem to think is so cute, has become directed at me rather than just happening near me.

That is of course until Mommy comes around the corner, and the world is suddenly at peace again.

On the upside, his vocabulary continues to grow by the hour, and the weekend snow gave him a great chance to show off his prowess with a shovel... if I can only keep him convinced that it's fun until well into his teen years we'll be in good shape.

So all of this should get an even more interesting kick in the teeth this weekend, as Kim & Harry will be heading north to NJ for a few days. Kim has to travel to a site in Berlin NJ for Friday, and a birthday party on Saturday for Noah Colton... which means she & Harry leave Thursday evening (at bedtime) and come back late Saturday night.

Should be interesting to see if he remembers me by then...

Happy Hallmark Heart day to all of you who choose to celebrate it, as well as those who denounce it.

Have a good one either way.