A day without kids

A day without kids. That little phrase would send most parents into a gleeful little giggle, but that's the reality I face in a day and I do not like it so much.

This weekend is a big weekend for the Banner Graphic sports department. Tonight we'll be covering the North Putnam regional football game and tomorrow we'll be at Crawfordsville for the Monon Bell Classic. My wife has a convention in Fort Wayne, so here's the rundown.

I will drop my girls off at their grandparent's house at 4 p.m. tonight and won't pick them up until Saturday after the Monon Bell game. A whopping 26-hours without my daughters and I won't see my wife until Monday morning around 1 a.m.

In my younger days if I had a weekend essentially to myself, I would grab a box of Golden Grahams, pick out some awesome flicks and have a grand ol' time. Now everything's changed -- everything except the Golden Grahams. Those little treats are mighty tasty.

I'm going to be dog tired when I get home on Saturday, but I'll be darned if I'm not going to do something with them. It might be as simple as riding bikes outside, but it will be something.

My wife being gone is heartbreaking as well. Who's going to yell at me to stop snoring in the middle of the night or remind me the toilet lid needs to be put down (ladies live her too) or that I need to rinse off my dishes when I'm done? After thinking about it, it might not be all bad, but I'm still going to miss her.

She's off to a dance convention and I couldn't be more proud of her. What she can do with her students and choreography is amazing. I get a front-row seat to see it evolve from an idea, to a piece of music, to the first steps and ultimately to its final incarnation. The process is amazing.

Don't get me wrong, being the husband of a dance teacher has its positives and negatives. The positives are seeing her create something from nothing. The downside is being yelled at for three months solid when its competition season -- just because.

While in reality it's only a small chunk of time I'll be without the ladies of my life, I'll miss each of them and will be counting down the seconds until we're all chilling together Monday morning.

How, it's time for some Golden Graham therapy.