Fauxther's Day

Last Sunday was Father's Day: Athennia, Riley, and I went for a short walk at Tamanend Park in Southampton, then popped over to my parents' house around the corner for dinner (from Applebee's—with Kelly, Steve, and Olivia). After we ate, Riley, Athennia, Steve, and I tossed around a frisbee for a bit in the backyard.

Happy Father's Day to Ron and Steve, and to my late father Jack!

But, this past weekend, I got some father training myself... or at least some stepfather training. We had a sort of long-weekend staycation with Riley at my place from Thursday evening to Monday evening—which included Friday and Monday while Athennia was at work.

I had figured she'd want to noodle around on my guitars and play with Penny most of the time—which certainly happened, of course—but, we ended up in much more of a father/daughter scenario than I would have imagined, given that we only finally started to "bond" on Easter Sunday.

Thursday

Athennia and I picked Riley up and we grabbed dinner at Steam Pub in Southampton. The food was great, and we enjoyed a laugh at the absolutely ridiculous handicap ramp leading up to the back entrance.

Seriously, the thing's about half a mile long all in all, with several hairpin turns and steep enough inclines that I wouldn't want to be coasting down them without motorcycle armor! (Oddly enough, there was a guy in a motorized wheelchair who seemingly teleported thrice, when he kept rolling out the back door—and presumably down the ramp—only to appear on the other side of the room moments later as though he'd come in the front... where we didn't see a handicap-accessible entrance.)

Anyway, we then popped over to Giant right next door and did our Friday-night grocery shopping a day early.

When we got back to my place, I dusted off my long-forgotten Wii and we played some real-time multiplayer Super Mario Bros (which actually gets quite difficult relatively quickly, because everyone's in each other's way as you're trying to navigate the levels).

We had ice cream sundaes for dessert and did some stargazing before bed (on the early side, since Athennia had to wake up for work).

Friday

I didn't really fully get back to sleep after I saw Athennia out around 5:30; so, I got up shortly after 7:00 and tended to some garden chores. (There's been a pesky rabbit trying to build a nest under the roots of two of my cucumber plants; so, one of the things I took care of was sledgehammering the posts for my deer fencing two inches further into the ground so everything will hopefully serve as rabbit fencing now as well.)

I woke Riley around 9:30 and we had cereal together. Then she asked if she could play guitar.

No problem.

I got her set up, then weeded through my many news feeds and fleshed out an outline for an essay I want to work on soon. Eventually, I started to get hungry for lunch; so, I stuck some popcorn chicken in the oven for us.

After lunch, we played some more Mario to kill time until Athennia got back. Then the three of us went outside and threw around a frisbee before coming back in to make tacos for dinner (with garden-fresh tomatoes, lettuce, jalapeños, and cilantro).

We played some Wii Sports (bowling, tennis, and fencing) and still more Mario, then had some ice cream and wound down for bed.

Saturday

The three of us had breakfast together, followed by an unplanned but long serious talk. Riley really opened up to us on a number of subjects—confidentially, of course! But, one thing that inevitably came up that Athennia and I had already long since known on our own were some details about the ongoing tension between Taylor and Athennia (and me by association).

We knew that Taylor and her girlfriend had been framing everything as an us versus them scenario (and sulking because we've been pushing them to get jobs—which is apparently too tall of an order, despite the fact that Ahlina turned 20 this weekend and has been living with Athennia rent-free for more than a year). <shrug>

What we hadn't known was the toll that had taken on Riley, feeling like she was caught in the middle. Luckily, we had a super positive and productive discussion and dispelled some of the rumors Fake News™ that Taylor and Ahlina had been peddling.

Athennia and Riley ran out to run some errands and stopped for lunch together while they were out; but, they also grabbed some fried chicken and mashed potatoes for dinner—which we enjoyed with some garden-fresh snap peas.

We played some Mario, had ice cream for dessert, and watched The Scorpion King before bed (because I couldn't convince Riley to give Muppet Treasure Island a chance, even though I vouched for it and explained that I'd seen it in the theater a couple centuries ago when I was her age).

Sunday

We took it easy and just sort of hung out together all morning. Then I offered to treat to ice cream at Dairy Queen and we decided to go swimming for a few hours.

Athennia and I made Riley a pizza for dinner, then tried our hands at stromboli (taco and barbecue chicken, both of which tasted spectacular).

After dinner, we put on The Mask of Zorro while we meal-prepped for the week; but, Riley had been sort of stressed and fell asleep half an hour into it.

Monday

And, just like that, it was Monday again.

Riley and I largely repeated our Friday routine, having breakfast together before she moved onto guitar and I spent most of the day at my desk.

But, it was certainly an interesting weekend: Every bit as fun as I had hoped it would be, but with an unexpected dose of something akin to real-life parenting of a teenager.

I don't think I did too bad for a novice!