Where is Mom?

This weekend Amy is off in Paris galavanting around with her girlfriends; I have been arranging various activities for the kids to keep them distracted. Yesterday we went to London to visit the Aquarium, which was fun (although to be honest, I have been to many other more interesting aquariums in the US). Lydia also enjoyed reading her "Captain Fact's Egyptian Adventure" book on the train (very entertaining series-- the cartoons are great). Today I am going to take the kids to the Grantchester Fair if the weather holds out (it rained earlier this morning).



The kids seem to do ok during the day on a single parent, but we do get some minor grumblings during the evenings, particularly at "family dinner" time, and at bed time. Lydia's bed-time routine always includes a hug from her mom, and so it is hard to avoid thinking about missing parents at that particular point in the evening. The revised ritual is that after I get her settled, she sits up in bed and issues a short but serious critique on my hugs, e.g. how much better mom is, things she would like me to improve on, etc. Recent reviews: "face too scratchy", "hair not long enough", "hug not soft enough", "you don't smell like mom", etc. I think at this point there is no hope for me-- I need to be sent to remedial hugging school without delay.