Single Parenting?

Alex left Thursday to go to Cleveland, Ohio for a conference, and I was left to be a single working mother for 3 days! Thursday night was a piece of cake-pretty normal evening for us, aside from the fact that Alex was obviously missing from the dinner table. We made it through bath fine, and then standing completely naked, Rowan turned his hands up at me and said, "Where's Daddy?" He was quite sure that Daddy should have been home, and he was not. I reassured him Daddy would come home, and the evening ended like all others. I read about 15 books to Rowan while he sipped on some milk, and then I carefully put the little man to bed. Friday morning, though, was when I really missed my helper.

I woke up 20 minutes earlier, 5:45, so I could get everything together and get Little Man to daycare, a task which Alex usually does. All was good, I was ready, and I woke up the boss. He was a tad grumpy, but he quickly ate his breakfast, drank milk, and we were rocking out to Wonder Pets as I was trying to get him dressed. He DID NOT want to wear shoes, and kicked me to the point of defeat. It was 6:45, and I should have had him in the car and be off to daycare. What else was I going to do other than grab the shoes and Little Man to the car. I threw the shoes on the floor board and off we went. By the time we reached daycare, Rowan was screaming at me, "Shoes, Shoes!" He obviously was angry that he did not have shoes on. I quickly put the shoes on, whisked him into daycare, and left a crying little boy reaching out for me. It broke my heart, and it completely reaffirmed why I don't do dropoff. I sped to work traveling a risky 43 in a 35, and I made it to work 3 minutes late. Whew! That was stressful.

The rest of the weekend has been much less stressful, but it certainly makes me think about how lonely life must be without a mate or someone to help. Row and I kept busy today with Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, taking down the Christmas lights outside, eating lunch, and a nap, but I find myself uneasy. While I know I can be a single parent for a short while, I appreciate my husband and all of the small things he does to help parent and keep our house going! I enjoy the quiet time to myself, but I am eager for him to get home in 7 hours:-)