When you first have a kid, it is the hardest thing in the world. A kid is so much work, you can’t imagine ever having another one. There’s so much crying, boredom and poop. So very much poop. And then you have a second kid, and yeah, it’s hard. There’s double the crying and poop, but much less boredom, but not in a good way. There’s always at least one person whom you’re in charge of keeping alive who appears to be trying to kill themselves. (Babies, what is your obsession with electrical outlets? Is it because they look like little faces?) As they get older, it starts to get easier again, because they can (sort of) entertain each other. But you still laugh at how you ever thought having just one kid was hard.

Tuesday evening, we left Hazy at Grammy’s, and George and I came back solo. So that means it’s been two days of just George and me. Guys, one kid at a time is so easy! Granted, my kid is 4, so he’s not as actively trying to kill himself as when he was a baby, but still. No one is bickering, copying, bickering about copying, or telling on someone for copying.

Anyway, I can tell that part of George really misses Hazy, but the other part is pretty psyched about having Mama and Dada all to himself. When we got home on Tuesday evening, we played catch and George helped me grill.

At dinner, he sat on the bench between Matty and me and between bites, he would hug us both. At bedtime, he got to pick all the books himself and have some quality “bro time” with his dad.

Yesterday, he had Oma & Opa all to himself. That means all of Oma’s attention at the pond and the pool. At the pool, Oma and I taught George how to play Marco Polo, which used to torture my brother, Marco, as a child. (“Marco!” “What?!”) It was Oma, George, two small kids and I in the kiddie pool. Later, George and I both quit and I asked my mom if we should get going. “Two more minutes!” my mom said, as she continued to play Marco Polo with the little kids in the kiddie pool. My mom’s pretty awesome, you guys.

It wasn’t all about George though. My parents made me my favorite meal, by special request: Mandarin Pancakes. You might know it as Moo Shu Chicken. My mom made the pancakes from scratch the night before because they’re time consuming (I love you, Mom) and my dad showed me how to make the filling (I love you too, Dad). Food is how my parents show their love, and they must love me a ridiculous amount.

This morning, we tried to finish cleaning the toy pit, but mostly George just blared “Rock ‘n Roll All Night” on the boom box and played the drums while I cleaned. Then, I surprised him with a trip to Launch, a trampoline place, and it was epic. We bounced on every single trampoline, jumped (ran, if you’re George) into pits of foam blocks, and did some slam dunks into basketball nets. The guy working the foam pits section asked if I was jumping or just spectating. Please, bro, spectate this!

While it’s been fun to have the Georgie Show the past couple of days, we can’t wait to have our Hazelbert back tonight.