Today
Today, I took the kids to the mall. We needed some things for rounding out Easter outfits and such. Both kids were so good. It was pretty awesome. We practiced QVC's "fun along the way". We were a little silly, doing stuff like "hiding" and having races. At one point, as we were nearing the food court to grab lunch, we walked past the Easter bunny. I am doing my usual mental gymnastics trying to figure out how to get around this one -- past excuses have included "you're not in good enough clothes" or "your hair is too messy" to get a picture with the bunny. In those instances where I've lacked the intestinal fortitude to hand the credit card over to the Holiday Machine, Shane still insists on getting as close as possible to the furrily costumed creature and waving. Today, after a mental image of this poor child going through his whole life being that kid who never got to get his picture taken with the Bunny, I cracked and did surrender. We got in line to sit with the Bunny. Much to my surprise, Olivia was also very excited to see the Easter Bunny, and was practically diving out of my arms to get to him (or her). When we were in the on-deck circle, one of the assistants asked if we decided upon a package. I asked if we could defer until we saw how it turned out. We've been burned before with Santa. Well, today, the stars along with the planets most be aligned. Shane and Olivia both smiled and were both looking right at the camera for the pic. The only potential downside, it was all I could do to get my kids back from the big rabbit. He (likely) or she seemed a little too hands-on with the kids. Maybe I'm just paranoied. But either way, we had a great day and have a great photo to help us remember it.

Tonight, while waiting over an hour to get a haircut for Shane, I was talking to one of the guys at the shop who has cut my hair before. He asked "where are the kids?", "is that one of them there?", and "are you still a stay-at-home dad?" We were in the waiting area and he was back in the cutting area. I felt like everyone in the shop was looking at me and listening to our conversation. Shane gets to talking to the kid (probably 8 or 9 y.o.) next to him, and his mom. After the L.O.R. blood and gore explanation, the conversation turned to pets. Shane said that we wanted all these dogs. The Mom says "You better have a Mom who doesn't mind taking care of pets." Maybe she wasn't listening that previous discussion, but I am still so amazed by how many people are surprised that I do the laundry and (most of) the cooking even as a SAHD.