The Absent Herr Thornburgh

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.

This entry was posted in Uncategorized by Nathan. Bookmark the permalink.

About Nathan

Nathan Thornburgh is a contributing writer and former senior editor at TIME Magazine who has also written for the New York Times, newyorker.com and, of course, the Phnom Penh Post. He suspects that he is messing up his kids, but just isn’t sure exactly how.

7 thoughts on “The Absent Herr Thornburgh

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

  2. 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. 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.

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

  5. Pingback: A Week on the Wagon: Sherlock Holmes Edition | DADWAGON

  6. Pingback: Fatherhood according to Tolstoy | DADWAGON

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *