How Do Single Parents Do It???

OK.... I’ve had enough!! Not that I would mail my kids to Australia in a box with teeny, tiny air holes, but being the only adult in the house is starting to get to me! I miss my husband and the tossing and turning on the other side of the bed. I miss having someone else as a sounding board as I get ready for this trade show in just over 2 weeks. I find myself wondering how single parents cope, let alone keep their sanity... and I have great kids!!

Today was just a comedy of errors and perhaps that’s part of the problem. I had a great morning at Weight Watchers because it was a fun topic to do as a leader and I was really proud of being down 3.8 lbs. this week as I get the extra from my visit to Mom’s off!!! Bethany came with me because Erin was off at a sports camp for the morning and was a great helper, but by the end of the meeting, she was starting to pace a bit. Once we picked the gang up from the sports camp (my turn to do pickup) and got every one home, I fed them and hoped to get an afternoon of drawing in. Erin and Bethany desperately wanted to have a Barbiefest, but the basement just “wasn’t what they needed”... In a fit of desperation and creativity, I took the bowls and baskets off our kitchen island and let them convert that into a Barbie condo. The only flaw with that theory was the soap opera saga game they were playing was too noisy to be next to!!! The dragon scurried down to the basement and hid in her office getting one more chart ready to output for the show in Charlotte! Things went well for a while then the mayhem kicked in and I had to resolve a fight that left Bethany “accidentally” falling off Erin’s back because she let go!!

I actually teamed up with another Mom on the block whose husband is away on business and has kids of a similar age for supper. Like me, she was craving some adult conversation and rational adult company!!

The evening was fine except that the kids just seemed to want more and more. We walked up to the new local candy shop for a gelatin and stopped for a play in the park on the way home, but all of our kids gave us grief when we said it was time to go home. It is nice to have another mother on the block who is willing to be “ a mean mom” and set boundaries for her kids!!!

I got some stitching done tonight, but I have also learned when it is better not to push my hands and try to go on to some drawing. Instead, I have set aside tomorrow morning to finish the last colour illustration of this batch so that tomorrow night I can work on pencils of the last few illustrations. I’m not sure why I left some of the hardest ones for the end......

I really miss my best friend tonight, even though I know that this conference will teach him things he needs to know as a principal. Isn’t it wonderful to realize that you shouldn’t take someone for granted??? Isn’t it educational when the shoe is on the other foot?? I have learned so much about what Nick goes through when I am away at shows. I have great kids... and yet they will still try to be kids every chance they get. My mom always said that I would understand when I had kids of my own and every so often I phone her to tell her how right she was. I now use that line on my own children because it is true. Only when you are a parent, trying to juggle all of the adult things, do you TRULY appreciate what you put your parents through when you were young.

Kudos to any and all single parents out there. You have more courage and strength than you know as well as my admiration and respect. I have walked a few days in your shoes several times this summer and my feet hurt!!!