My week of single parenting
Damian went on a business trip. For a week. And may I just say, bloody hell! A week is a long time! The boys and I roughed it without their daddy. For the first day, Corey asked at least once an hour, "When's daddy gonna be home?", and Mason whipped out his signs for "daddy", "work", and "airplane" several times too. Mason also signed "airplane" and "Mason's turn" a few times. I said, "Oh, it's Mason's turn to get on a big airplane?", to which he nodded a vehement "Yes!"When I woke up on Saturday morning, I realized I'd survived the first night alone with the boys. Yes, I know that's such a drama queen thing to say. After all, I was only watching my own children, so it's not like I'm a clueless bimbo in that regard. (That's correct, I am in fact a clueless bimbo in many other regards.)
Anyway, the first night went fine. I opted to do no cooking for myself during the week, and instead the boys and I went out and bought a bunch of prepared stuff for me to enjoy once they were safely tucked in bed. This meant there was no major dinner clean-up to do, and this is part of what saved my bacon. So, I gave the boys fruit snacks, which they ADORE, and put them in front of the TV for the 5 minutes it took to straighten up after their hot dogs and green beans (dinner of champions, that one). Then I gave them a bath, which was a bigger challenge, since I never do that. Corey had to give me instructions. Ha! "So Mommy, now you put on the water, and then I get in and stand in the back until the water warms up, and then you get Mason in, and he sits in the back, but don't get Mason in until I get in!, and then you......." He's very informative.
The following morning I woke up and it was 5 degrees. How is that even possible when you're not at one of the Poles? So as I'm freezing my buns off and lounging in bed with both my toddlers, trying to get motivated to get up and start fixing food/getting them dressed/etc., my husband calls me and says, "Hey Honey! It's 40 degrees and sunny!" Well good for you, Pal!, I thought. I resisted the urge to call him names, however, and instead I smiled and asked how his flight was, etc., etc. Really, I was glad to hear from him, know that he'd arrived safely, etc. But I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I was just a little green that I was stuck at home in the arctic cold with Thing 1 and Thing 2. Plus I missed him. (sigh)
When the boys and I finally straggled downstairs, I briefly considered making them our traditional Saturday morning breakfast - home-made waffles and bacon. But I looked at the waffle iron and imagined the big mess of waffle mix that would undoubtedly be seeping out the sides of the iron and going everywhere, since I never make the waffles (that's Damian's job), and I went straight for the Eggos instead. They're waffles, right? The boys were thrilled.
That afternoon "Mr. Rob and Miss Tara" came over for a visit, which was great. They helped keep us from dying of loneliness, and Corey gets really excited to see them. There was some danger that they might not come, as Tara is very pregnant with her daughter Sophia, but luckily Sophia held on and allowed her mommy and daddy a visit. Which was good, because once I announced their visit, Corey kept saying, "And when are Mr. Rob and Miss Tara gonna be here?" Too cute. Had I disappointed him after that, it would have been ugly. Chocolate and jellybeans would have been required for clean-up of that mess.
The week continued with lots of activities, including a trip to see Aunt Amanda and Sydney, which the boys loved. Amanda is working on giving me a new niece or nephew (it's all about me!), so the poor girl was dealing with the illness of early pregnancy, but she was still nice enough to have us over. The boys, ever helpful little souls, proceeded to completely tear her house apart. It was so impressive that as the time to depart approached, I thought I might have to rent a shop vac to clean it all up. This is a sign that they had a fabulous time, though, and I know they were sad to leave.
We also spent the night for the first time at their Gaga's house (my mom's house), which was both fun and annoying. Fun because the Corey looked at it like a camping trip, where he got to sleep in a new room he'd never slept in before. He kept saying, "We're gonna stay here tonight! We never did that before. And I'm gonna sleep in the money room!" That's what he calls one of her bedrooms, because they play with coins on the desk in that room. We also had a nice dinner there - my only home-cooked meal of the week (thanks Mom!) - and played like crazy.
The annoying part of the night at Mom's was Mason sleeping, or rather not sleeping. He's out of his crib, which meant that the Pac N' Play at Mom's was a non-option. Well it was an option I explored, but when Mason climbed out after all of 0.5 seconds, I realized it wasn't going to happen. Then he wailed until I gave up and put him in bed with me, which would have been fine, except that he tosses and turns like his daddy when there's some major issue weighing on his mind. And he kicks me. Mason, not Damian. I finally grabbed his huge Dora doll and shoved it between us, and he took out the rest of his sleeping aggressions on poor Dora. Thank you Dora, for letting me get some sleep.
We rounded out the week with a trip to the mall to toss pennies in the fountains, ride the carousel, and eat chicken nuggets. Finally, we headed to the grocery store to pick up some food for Damian's arrival home, including a cake which the boys decorated to say "Welcome home, Daddy!". This phrase included a "V", courtesy of Mason. Every good welcome home message needs a random "V", I think.
The boys also talked me into buying the trick candles which relight when you blow them out. Agreeing to this was not the smartest moment of my life, I must say. As Damian pulled up to our house after being away for a week, we lit the candles, and then we blew them out 6 times while the van driver fiddled around with Damian's credit card. The candles were about half an inch above the cake by the time Damian made it into the house, and none of us had any eyebrows left. Nothing quite like being welcomed home by your eyebrowless family.
Still, it was a nice homecoming. The boys were super excited to see their daddy and all the fun stuff he brought home for them. And Corey was quick to verify that daddy wouldn't be leaving again anytime soon, which was sweet.
As you might imagine, I now have way more respect for all single parents out there. I always knew it would be tough to do it all myself, but, well - it was a humbling experience, to say the least. I need a vacation. To someplace warm, where kids are banned, and they have fruity drinks with little umbrellas. And no kids. Did I say that already? Preferably nobody under 25. If you can't rent a car in the US, you can't come. Yeah. So I need some sleep too....