A Goodbye Routine

Each morning when Papa Bear leaves for work my little ones line up to say their goodbyes. It is a process and even on his busiest of days Papa Bear is wonderful and tolerant of their many requests for goodbyes. It starts with Little Man doing at least 2 "thumb-flips". My little gymnast grabs hold of Papa Bears thumbs, jumps up while flipping around and then lands back on his feet. This is done no less than 2 times in preparation for Papa Bear's departure. Now Peanut is insistant on not being left out so he has his own version that he lines up for. Papa Bear grabs him under the arms and tells him to bend his knees and jump. He usually complies with the bend his knees part but it is totally up to Papa Bear to heft that 32 pounds up. Then Peanut puts his feet on Papa Bear's shoulders and leans back to be flipped over and is gently handed down to the ground. Now he gets no less than 2 of these prior to Papa Bear walking out the door. Now the boys know how to work their poor Papa so the next request is usually that Little Man wants to do wheel barrow walks and Peanut wants to do pretend pull-ups on the pull up bar. Finally Papa Bear gets close to the door and there are screams for the most important part - hugs and kisses. So hugs and kisses are handed out and Papa Bear throws me a kiss so as not to be lured back in by the boys and runs out the door. This has been known to take up to 15 minutes on a good day. He is just the best Papa Bear in the world - unapproved thumb flips and all! We love you Papa Bear!