I was off this past Friday, so Jess and I decided to head to The Crossings to get some new clothes for Jackson. We went from shop to shop, buying some really cute clothes and enjoying the generous savings outlet store have to offer. We were towards the end of our trip when we walked into the Carters store. By this time, Jackson was sick and tired of being in his stroller all afternoon. So, letting my wife look around, I took him out of his stroller and carried him around the store. After picking out several outfits, it was time to check out. The lines weren’t that long at all, but Jackson was getting a bit fussy at this point. Plus, he was in need of a diaper change at this point. So, I just started playing with him while in line. I held him in my arms, quickly brought him to my face, and would ‘nibble’ on his neck. This made him giggle uncontrollably. He loved it! A few minutes of this, and we were thru the line and heading to the restrooms next door to change his diaper. Jess took over, taking Jackson into the ladies room to change him. A few minutes later, she came out smiling. I asked her what she was smiling about. She then told me a little story.
While she was in there changing Jackson, a lady came up to her and told her how cute Jackson was. Jess thanked her, and then the lady apparently went on about me. Here, she was in the Carters store while we were in there and saw what I was doing to him while in line. She told her to tell me that I was an excellent father. When she told me this, all I could do was smile. I’ve never been a father before, and I just try to do the best I can everyday. Somedays that’s more then enough, other days I feel like I fall short. It’s one thing when you wife, your friends, or your family tells you you’re doing a good job as a father. It’s another thing all together when a total stranger stops your wife in the restroom just to tell her her husband is a good father. That made me feel as if maybe I am doing something right after all.
In other weekend news, Saturday brought a special delivery of something I have been wanting to buy my wife for a few months now. When most men want to make their wives happy with a surprise gift, they automatically think jewelry. While true, most women go ga-ga over diamonds, my girl is a little different. What did I buy my wife that made her count down the days until it arrived?
Yep, my wife got excited over a new washing machine. That’s why I love this girl! All kidding aside, she really did look forward to this bad boy getting delivered. You see, we live in a house where there is a never ending stream of dirty laundry. There are 3 of us, doing laundry in a 2.4 cubic foot washing machine. Sure, that machine was more than enough for me when I originally bought it in 2003; I was single then and only had o wash clothes for myself. Add a wife and son into the mix, and you’re looking at more loads hen there are hours in the day. On top of all of this, I have been in a real ‘energy savings’ mode for the past year or so. I’ve changed out all our lightbulbs for CFLs, put in new windows and doors, as well as starting to better insulate the house. The results of all of this came to fruition this winter with record low heating bills. So, when I decided to buy a new washer, it made sense to spend the extra money and get a high efficiency machine. No only does it use less electricity ($7 a year doing 8 loads per week!) but a lot less water then our current unit. (current unit uses 52g per load, new unit uses 12-26g per load)
So, the new washer was delivered and setup on Saturday morning while I was at work. Needless to say, Jess started right in on the laundry. Since we went from a 2.4 cubic foot machine to a 4.3 cubic foot machine, she was cleaning more clothes in a single load. How many more clothes? What she can do in 1 load in the new machine equals about 3 loads in the old machine. By Sunday evening, we were almost completely caught up on all of our laundry! A very worth while investment, especially considering the old washer started making some funny noises a few weeks ago!
