Monday, May 13, 2013

My Deployed Husband Can Still Surprise Me

There was a knock on the door right as I was shouting at Natalie to put on her pants and stop acting like a dog.

It’s something she likes to do. Crawl around on her hands and knees in her underwear and act like a dog. Some people might think this is cute. And it is, until she continuously crawls in front of you. Then you’re tripping over her tiny frame, twisting left and right, and it just gets old. I tell her to play dog someplace else, I tell her she can play dog in her underwear as long as she likes if she does it in her room. But no, she has to be with me.

So yes, I was telling Natalie to put on her pants and stop acting like a dog because I had enough—and it wasn’t in a soft voice either. At that point I had been tripped four times, the first time having made me lose my grasp on my water I was holding so it flung all across the living room. And yes, you might be thinking, oh, it’s water, no big deal. But a gigantic water streak went across the TV and that is a VERY BIG DEAL. (The TV was okay, thank goodness.)

*Knock knock*

What the guy probably heard was this as he knocked: “NATALIE! That’s enough! PUT ON YOUR PANTS AND STOP ACTING LIKE A DOG!”

I’m surprised he didn’t run off.

I might have run off.

I paused, unsure if I heard the door. It could have been Tommy. He likes to slam across his bed over and over again so it makes a thumping noise. He does this because he craves the crashing feeling against him. It doesn’t bother me. I know it helps him.

“Was that the door?” I asked Natalie, who was still on all fours.

“Woof,” she responded, still pantsless, because even when I shout, she could care less, to which people might go, “Then stop shouting. Clearly it doesn’t work.” But I only have so much patience. I’ve always said that I parent like Roseanne and Frankie Heck in The Middle. Some people are shouters.

I opened the door and all I saw was a bouquet of flowers floating. I thought, okay, wow, I need caffeine. Floating flowers! Then I realized a guy was behind the spray of pink, holding them up by their gigantic vase.

Flowers.

“Could you sign this?” the guy asked, handing me a clipboard. His eyes darted around so I’m pretty sure he heard me yell. He also most likely spotted Natalie crawling past the door in her drawers. That didn’t help matters either.

He handed over the gigantic flowers and I almost dropped them. They were heavy! And gorgeous.

“Have a nice day,” the guy said and rushed back to his car. I’m sure we were his weirdest delivery of the day.

“Who gave these to us?” Natalie asked, because everything I get immediately becomes OURS.

“Daddy, I bet. Unless John Krasinski finally noticed me. Not that I could act on it, but still, the gesture would be exciting,” I replied, carrying them into the kitchen. I opened the tiny envelope and pulled out the card. I smiled. Yup, from Tom. For Mother’s Day.

The flowers were a surprise. I mean, he had said he mailed a package. And I got the package the day before. He sent everyone camels.



(I named mine Sampson.)

I assumed that was it. No, wait, he did say there would be a card in the mail. And I got that on Saturday, but I didn’t allow myself to open it until Mother’s Day.

But the flowers? Were a surprise. He can still surprise even though he’s deployed and like a million miles away.



The card made me tear up. And yes, he actually wrote in it. (My longtime readers will understand this. Tom has argued that he doesn’t need to write anything because the card already says what he feels. I insist that you must write in a card to make it personal.)

So even though Tom wasn’t here for Mother’s Day, and even though the kids drove me a little crazy, I still had an enjoyable weekend.

And yes, the flowers are still alive!

35 comments:

  1. That's sweet of Tom. Happy Mother's Day, Amber.

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  2. Gorgeous!!! I'm so glad you got a happy surprise. Hugs!!!

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  3. :) Happy Mum's Day... even if being a mom means have a dog in panties!

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  4. Gorgeous flowers!! Yay for Tom!! :)

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  5. What a sweetheart you have! So happy you got a wonderful surprise for your special day. :)

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  6. Beautiful flowers!!! Glad you got a little surprise after all! Happy Mother's Day!

    Jane

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  7. How sweet! It's crazy how much more a bouquet means when they are away! :)

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  8. Your family is so sweet. Crawling human-dogs in their drawers, deployed husbands and all. I'm glad he surprised you from half way around the world.

    You deserve it!

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  9. Aww. What a wonderful surprise. And hey, I used to be a florist so he was probably relieved to see a kid acting like a dog in an underwear, as opposed to a real dog snarling and growling... "Take one more step toward this door and I'm taking a toe!" Those were the worst.

    Enjoy your flowers!

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  10. First of all, AWWWW!! So sweet! Best Mother's Day surprise ever! Secondly, we are TOTALLY Frankie on The Middle, too! Love that reference!-The Dose Girls

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  11. Awww what a sweet guy! Glad he was able to make Mother's Day special for you!

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  12. Awww....he's definitely a keeper! And I'm so totally with you on the whole Roseanne parenting approach. I've tried the quiet - yeah, not working. Happy Mother's Day!!

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  13. What a great surprise! Serious brownie points for Tom, ha. You're not the only person with a kid who likes to play pretend in her underwear, though! I don't know if that should make you feel better or worse about the situation...

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  14. that is so incredibly sweet ;)

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  15. Aww so sweet! I'd love the camels more than the flowers cause they're adorable and they last longer. I'd say Tom did pretty good :)

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  16. So sweet! So glad you had a wonderful mothers day!

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  17. What a guy! That's so sweet!!
    P.S.: I have two "puppies" at home. Their puppy names are Sparky and Buster; though they usually go by Henry and Benjamin. :)

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  18. Oh goodness, it drives me crazy when my kids do that. One pretends to be a cat, the other pretends to be a dog, they chase it's other - you can imagine what it's like having two of them crawling around the floor chasing one another along with making the animal noises LOL.

    Beautiful flowers! And I love the camels, too! :D

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  19. Way to go Tom! Glad you had a nice surprise for Mother's Day.

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  20. Aw! So lovely! Even with Natalie pretending to be a dog (that would wear thin on me after a while, and I would be yelling too!), you probably weren't his weirdest delivery. Think of all the weird people who order things, so many possiblities!

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  21. What a thoughtful husband! Do you have something special planned for Father's Day?

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  22. That is so sweet!! The flowers look beautiful and the camels look like a fun gift too! Laughing about the dog thing, but I am sure the delivery guy has seen much worse...hahaha!

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  23. Way to go Tom! Glad you had a nice weekend. Give your daughter a scratch on the belly for me :)

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  24. OMG is there anything more romantic than surprise flowers? What a wonderful husband!

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  25. Oh, that is just so sweet. I'm so glad you had a good day.

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  26. That is just too cute! And I must admit I'm quite jealous

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  27. Aw, that's so sweet!

    And yay for him writing the card!

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  28. Beautiful!

    And all kids related to me have gone through the doggy stage. It will pass. Hopefully before she gets to the "I want to wear a dog collar in public" stage.

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  29. That is so sweet!! And Sampson is AWESOME!! I'm also happy to know that I'm not the only one that can say loud wierd sounding things to my kids at all the wrong times.

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  30. Yea!! Good man and great surprise. My kids like to pretend like their little brother is a dog and he went through a phase where he would only really come if you said come here little puppy.

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  31. Very sweet. I needed to see this today-my husband leaves this week for 5 months of employment in Alaska where the kids and I won't be able to see him. It's encouraging to see you and your husband staying close while he's away!

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