6678/19598
My wife went to London to work meaning that for the first time post-op I was looking after the kids on my own (and to be fair, I haven't done much over the last fortnight). As long as I didn't have to pick them up at any point I thought I'd be OK and we were going to keep things relaxed. It may have been a misjudgement. I was pretty tired by the middle of the afternoon.
But luckily the kids were mainly well behaved and I didn't have to pick either of them up or pull them apart in a fight (I just let them get on with it until one of them was killed). We went on a walk and I saw all the things that have changed in the last fortnight - mainly that my neighbours have started building a garage and the field at the back of our house is a bit flooded. Walking is fine. I am taking it slow, but I have learned to balance again, without the huge weight of my right testicle and have stopped going round in circles.
The one point of rebellion came in the bath when my son apropos of nothing started throwing sponges and bath toys at me. It was a moment of madness. He seemed to think it was funny, but there is nothing funny about throwing soft wet things at a dry man. It's rare to get an unforced and reluctant apology from a child, but when we came up to bed, my son saw one of the sponges on the floor and was filled with genuine remorse. "I am so sorry I threw the sponges" he said with deadpan sincerity. Like he'd been drunk and forgotten all about the excesses of an hour or so ago. I gave him a hug and told him it was all right.
At bed time my daughter told me of her plan to have her own house, which would have a big garden with an umbrella over it so you could play in the rain. And the house would have an umbrella over it to keep off thunder. She asked if we could get thunder in the village. I told her that lightening was probably the thing to watch out for as it could set fire to stuff. Which was a mistake to mention at bedtime, but she seemed to sleep anyway.
It was nice to feel like a dad again and do something useful. Though even this gentle afternoon had more or less ended me. I was hoping I'd be free from pain and capable of exercising again after two weeks, but it's going to be a little bit longer.
