Still Not Home

My wife was suppose to be discharged today, but her fever shot up. The doctors decided to keep her in the hospital overnight to make sure she is safe. She was disappointed because she wanted to go home to her boys. She misses them. I miss them too even though I get to see them at night. For the benefit of her health, however, staying another night will give us a peace of mind knowing that she’ll be ok to go home. Poor grandma looking up after Cu Dan. He woke up every two hours because he misses his mom’s breastfeed. I heard him cry last night, but I couldn’t get up because I didn’t get much sleep the night before.

I spent most of my free time with Dao these days. I took him to one of his classmates birthday party on Saturday morning. Unfortunately he didn’t like to participate in any of the activities. He just wanted to stand and watch other kids playing. I took him to the U.S. Botanic Garden to see model trains. It was not all that spectacular, but he loved it. I went to his Chanukah party today in his class and he wouldn’t let me leave. I ended up spending almost two hours with him at the playground before I could sneaked out.

Dao is a bright kid, but he is very shy and stubborn. The combination makes him very hard to deal with. The past few weeks I didn’t want to put up with him after long days from work. I was being impatience and a bit tough on him. Unfortunately, toughness doesn’t seem to work on him. I am changing my approach by being more patience, but still maintain a bit of tough or else I can not get him to do anything I asked him to. It seems to work out well.

With the kids taking up most of our time, my wife and I hardly get the time alone to talk to each other. These past few days, we had a chance to catch up on our boys. We both feel worried about Dao. He makes us laugh with the unexpected things that he says, but his not being social or not fitting in is a bit worrisome. As much as I love to spend time with him, I also want him to play with his friends. I am his father and I’ll be there for him no matter what, but I am not his friend.

Only a few more days until the holidays and I might not return to work until next year. Between the new born and Dana’s surgery, I used up both of my five sick days and five vacation days, which were generously given to me as a new employee. I am very fortunate to have such an understanding and supportive supervisor. In return, I promise to relaunch the new site for Mason Law in January 2012.