I did a day of solo parenting this week. My husband, the ever-busy Chief Kozak, had a production meeting. A night away means chaos in our household because dad is gone. The moment the suitcase comes out our daughter knows he’s leaving the house and that is a whole new level of nope from her. Our beautiful almost two-year-old is her daddy’s biggest fan. She hears the garage open and runs to greet him at the door (with a very large German shepherd named Lucy in tow) and these two comrades wait with bated breath for him to walk through the door. The suitcase indicates not being tucked in, not being pushed on the swing, not having her routine. For me, it means no tag team partner and no one to fight for blankets with. These are everyone’s least favorite days because of the chaos it brings. Our daughter is cranky over the change in routine and acts a little more outside of her normal lines. She has big feelings, and she makes them known. For our son, he is getting to the age of noticing dad is missing, so he is cranky too. He becomes clingier. I, by the end of the day, have my own frustrations and offer to trade with him and go to the next production meeting. My husband wants nothing more than to be at home with our chaos (or so he says, I think he tells me that to make me feel better haha). By the time he comes home, I am about to go on strike and the pirates have taken over the ship. There is a clear mutiny that I am losing, and I hand over control to the chief. I tell him to control his crew and that I am off duty, but of course our little crew gets it together for him. I watch the patience he has for our toddler who wants to show him everything. He smiles as she latches onto him for the rest of the evening because she does not want him to go again. Our son can go from angry screaming to calm when he’s in his father’s arms. My husband, the serious navy-man, puts that persona on a shelf when he comes home and is just my husband and our children’s father. Watching them together is a blessing and I cannot ask for more for my life. Tonight, my heart is full watching this beautiful family of mine (and because the bears did not draft another quarterback this year).