The Absent Herr Thornburgh

May 19th, 2010  |  by  |  Published in Miscellany  |  7 Comments

Me

Me

Yes, I haven’t been around much this week (or last) on DadWagon. I would fear that my co-bloggers might dock my pay, if indeed there were any pay here at all.

It’s not that I haven’t been thinking about kids; in fact, my kids have been very heavy on the mind as I’m traveling through Russia and Germany for work. So much so that I’m now one of those people who smiles a little too much at the cuteness of other people’s children. They can’t see that I’m a father who misses his babies. Instead, I am sure I come across as a strange and bleary-eyed man trying to make eye contact with their babies.

This was not so much a problem in Moscow, which, as one German I met yesterday pointed out, is “totally without babies” (I assume that those babies who are born, despite the low birth-rate, are simply kept with grandparents and out of the city center). But in Germany, where it is Spring (cold and damp, but Spring, nonetheless), babies abound, in their brightly colored Euro-onesies, and it makes me miss my own all the more.

Anyhow, I’m never quite sure what fine people there are reading this blog, but I know my kids aren’t among the readers, since the younger can hardly say Book and the older writes Dalia with a K. But anyhow, let me address my babies directly, without Skype:

Hey kids. Miss ya. Stop calling strangers you see on the street “daddy”. I’ll be home on Friday.


Responses

  1. Natalee says:

    May 19th, 2010at 3:45 pm(#)

    You need not worry that Dalia is missing you ~ all she is thinking about is ChiChi.

  2. Stephanie Ichi says:

    May 19th, 2010at 4:36 pm(#)

    Maybe you should have a t-shirt made that has their photo on it, with a caption that reads: “have you seen our dad?”

    May help put all those parents (of kids you are smiling at) at ease.

    Hmmm… On second thought – maybe not. Thank god for skype – eh?

  3. Kerry says:

    May 19th, 2010at 6:51 pm(#)

    How else would you spell Kalia?

    Clearly, you’ve been abroad too long.

  4. Stefan says:

    May 19th, 2010at 10:22 pm(#)

    i’ve given that look too. try to keep it on this side of creepy. and remember “entschuldigung sie mir” when the kid protectors start chasing you. safe travels and speedy return.

  5. Nathan says:

    May 20th, 2010at 5:27 pm(#)

    I’ll keep that phrase in mind, Stefan. Thanks for the well-wishes; I’m pretty psyched about getting home…

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