Home is where the heat is.

It's a rainy day here in New Jersey. The air is heavy and conjures thoughts of Louisiana and what, for now, still feels like home. I think that Annie has adjusted easier than I have. We have been here for over a week now and I am just beginning to settle in to my (our) new routine.

I'll lay it out for you. In Shreveport I was the boss. Between raising Annie, and cooking, and cleaning, there wasn't much that I didn't have a say in. Unfortunately it seems that I enjoyed this role a little too much, because here at Grandma and Grandpa's there are now many bosses, many opinions, and theoretically many chances for me to relax. I don't seem to do such a good job of this. Even when I am in the same room as Annie and someone else is in charge I feel like I have to constantly watch her. It's funny, with strangers I don't tend to hover, but around my family I do.

The best example I can give you of how crazy I am is that I am obsessed with making sure that everyone (7 people at last count) closes their doors in the proper manner (twist the knob, pull the door gently closed, release the knob, dammit) thus allowing Annie to reach her full sleep potential.

In the spirit of self improvement that has been the hallmark of my new life as a stay at home dad, this is what I have to work on next. It's time to let go and trust the other members of my new extended family. I have to trust that they also have Annie's best interests in mind. They do right?

Oh, check this out from Wordle. It's an interesting way to aggregate copy from an RSS feed, in this case Unfinished Dad.



And last week Greg from Daddytypes posted the Sesame Street version of Feist's 1234. I wanted to link to it then, but time seems to be slipping. The video is definitely worth seeing if you love Sesame Street or Feist or your children. I think that must cover most everybody, no?