Instead of listening to music....

[maxg]

The plan was simple. Wife has been away and wont be back till 11:30 at the earliest.

All I have to do is get out of work early (5 ish) to get to the dentist for 6 (a cleaning for the old toothiepegs). Walk and feed the dogs. Take the handover from the carer for the baby at 8 and then plan the settling of the baby.

All going swimmingly up to the handover.

Feed and change baby. Plan to put on a video made for babies to put them to sleep (lovely Beethoven selection with relaxing images of teddy bears and so on). Let her fall asleep. Move her to our bed (where she sleeps soundly) and go listen to some of the new records I picked up yesterday.

All still going like clockwork. Baby asked for her milk at around 9 (a sure sign she will drift off within 20 minutes). Gave her the milk and settled down on the settee with her lying down in my leather recliner (the listening chair) obviously very relaxed.

Suddenly there is a loud farting noise followed by a scream. I look up to see baby covered in puke. Joy! Grab baby. Wipe puke from her face - pukes again immediately all over me, the carpet and the settee.

Walk to bathroom and sit her in the sink. Another puke straight into the basin. Wipe her down again. Wipe me down. She turns to me and pukes one more time. Fortunately that was the last one - but we are talking one empty baby here.

So I change and bathe the baby, then hunt around for spare clean PJ's of which there are none. Eventually put her in some soft day clothes and settle her down on one of the few clean chairs remaining with her blanket and pacifier. Beethoven is still playing. she wants Tom and Jerry. Change the video to Tom and Jerry.

I now have 2 choices. Try to clean this lot up, or move. The latter option is tempting - believe me, but I decide on the cleaning option instead.

An hour later and I am just about done. The carpets are stained, possibly irrevocably (Hand made Turkish carpets, not cheap - happy day) but everything loose has been mopped up, the sink has been unblocked, clothes are in the washing machine (hers and mine) and the windows are open to air the place (its pouring outside and freezing - she is warmly wrapped - I am in a T-shirt and sweating profusely...

"I'm hungry!"

Oh crap - here we go again. And what does she want to eat? Cheese!!!

We compromised with 2 chunks of chocolate a glass of water and a wait and see approach. I reckoned it would be gentler on her stomach than the cheese.

Half an hour goes by - all well. Give her some milk (half the normal quantity) and she finally falls asleep.

At last I settle down to listen to some music. The recliner stinks. Drag the recliner out of the way and drag the other one (SWMBO's) to my position.

Just as the needle drops into the groove of the Brahms Requiem the front door opens and a very wet wife walks in. Simultaneously the baby wakes up.

Music off. Joyous reunion between towel dried mother and baby. Long chat on events since she has been away (all 36 hours of her trip). Finally get to bed at 2. Baby wakes again at 2:30 wanting "down" and again at 5:30 for the same reason.

Not a good music day..

Things I realise I didnt mention:

1. A friend dropped round - can I lend him a quick $1000?

2. 8 phone calls.

3. A 30 second power cut. Just enough to panic the baby.

4. 18 questions of "where's mummy"

Hopefully tonight I will get to hear the Brahms...if coma doesnt get me first.

[3dzapper]

Max,

Your travails make my life seem very serene in comparison.

Rick

[dubai2000]

Max,

remember: what goes down, must come up again (slightly changed from the original) and Brahm will still be around when things have settled down again (minus stains - hopefully )

Wolfram

[maxg]

3d,

I'm jealous of your calm. There is an old Jewish phrase that says something like "happy is the people who's history makes boring reading."

Wolfram,

I know - and thankfully all puking was some distance from all things audio (except my chair!!!).

I was just so looking forward to listening to this piece. All the more so as I am planning to go back to that shop tomorrow for the repeat of the "once in a lifetime, never to be repeated, offer of any classical title he has for $2.

If there is one thing I hate its having my vinyl collection grow faster than I can listen to it. Yesterday's haul was around 50 disks. Tomorrow's may be similar. I would have loved to have felt that I had at least made a start on the first purchase before embarking on the 2nd.

I know that probably makes little sense. I'm just uneasy with this "plutocratic" approach to vinyl.

[Daddy Dee]

Max,

Blessings to you my son.

After reading your post I am too tired to stay up til my bedtime.

Dee

[cyclonecj]

Great story Max.... Very familiar. I even called my ex (still good friends) & read it to her. Good times!

[maxg]

Well I finally got to play the Brahms Requiem last night. Very nice - side one is a bit worn but the rest plays well enough.

Trouble is I fell asleep during side 3 when the Soprano made way for the Baritone. the Soprano on this score is not a name - and you can tell - but the orchestration is reasonable and the baritone does a fine job.

I'll have a proper listen to it again over the weekend and if it strikes me as good enough I'll post the full album details on the forum for anyone that is interested.

As it happens I think I still prefer the Berlioz Requiem (which is much more in line with the traditional Latin orginal).

I've got some listening to do and then I will get back with recs...

[fini]

I feel your pain, Max. I am the only one in my family who has been barfed on by everyone else. I'd say I wear that as a badge, but that might imply that I didn't wash my shirt. Oh, I know too well about middle-of-the-night carpet/bed/wall/ceiling explosive vomit clean-up, too. If I let my wife do it, I'd eventually have to clean up more...

Great breakfast talk, eh?

[maxg]

Yup - she did it again as we were leaving for work this morning. thankfully the woman that looks after her during the day shooed us out promising to deal with it.

Its that wonderful lingering aroma that is the worst - and almost impossible to get rid of for days...

[krustyoldsarge]

Count your blessings GMan!

Wait 'til baby is 15 years old and wants to date "wonderboy" with pierced eyebrows and everywhere else!

Now, since you have a daughter, I'll let you in on a little secret! Continue being a great dad to her, and later (maybe even sooner) you will have a tremendous ally in the house. I changed my daughter's diapers in the middle of the night and her first words were "Dada". I've got two buddies who have similarly laden care and affection and their daughters and these girls NEVER fail to take Dad's side in a dispute with mom. Daughters aren't only great themselves, they can be priceless allies!

Persevere, and she'll be asking you to crank up the Brahms.

Fail in this and, you will never, ever be able to listen to your Klipsches again!

[maxg]

Thanks Krusty - I'll bear that in mind.

As it happens I was fortunate enough to be working from home during the first 15 months of her life so I just about caught every important step.

Even now I am a pretty hands-on Dad. There is nothing I havent cleaned up, and its rare for me to get to eat diner in peace - we usually share it. Watching her wrestle with Spagetti Bolognaise is an event incomparable to anything I have seen (and worn) before!