I Had to Parent Three Kids Alone This Weekend

I was solo parenting Saturday through today while Adam was away hunting. (How a vegetarian married an avid deer hunter is still a bit of a mystery to us all...)

It was not the first time I was parenting without my partner since Nora's birth, but the first time he and my mother were gone at the same time. Have I mentioned recently how much my mom does and helps out? It really is a blessing having her so close and available. But, alas, she and my dad left on Sunday, so I was without my two primary supporters for two whole days. Gulp.

I realize that there are many people who do this by themselves all the time, and I have to say, WOW. You are amazing. Parenting alone is hard. It is HARD. There is no "can you handle this", no "I'm just running out to the store quick", no "I just need to take a breather, can you take over for a minute". The only alone time I had were the precious moments after all three girls were asleep.

Which, by the way, was not at a decent hour because why would it be easy to get the kids to sleep? It's never easy. So of course it's going to be even harder alone. Bedtime was, by far, the most painful part of Adam being gone.

So, even though I was exhausted from the days and the getting three children to go to bed, stay in bed, and fall asleep, and I should have gone straight to bed myself to get the maximum amount of sleep, I'd stay up late because I was desperate for some Me time.

But, we survived. Children got fed and dressed and taken care of. Laundry got washed (just not folded). Dishes got cleaned and put away. Garbage and recycling was taken to the end of the driveway on the appropriate day. I even pulled the vacuum out once.

We got annoyed with each other, and even yelled at each other a bit, but we also laughed, snuggled together, and watched several movies. Overall, I would say it was a success, although I will quickly add I am in no hurry to solo parent again any time soon.

And I'm kinda looking forward to my weekend to hunt. Which is never. Because I don't hunt. But I might be tempted to take it up just so that I can get away for a few days and sit by myself in the quiet...

In any case, it's nice to have my husband home.

xoxo, christine