My husband went back to work this week after a 10 day vacation. Aside from missing him (because he’s a wonderful guy) I realized I felt a little edgy for the first few days he was back to work. Suddenly I was outnumbered again! A few things made me realize our vacation was over:
- No more sleeping in and nap trade-offs each day. On vacations I take the mornings and hubbie takes the afternoons. We both get actual sleep and are both happier to boot. When vacations are over, this luxury is kaput and we are back to maybe five or six hours/day of sleep each.
- I actually have to think about supper before 4:55pm each day. When two adults are in the house, one wrangles children while one cooks, cleans & does laundry. When it’s just me I actually have to (sort of) plan these things out in advance. We can’t have waffles for supper every night, as much as my kids would love it.
- I have an audience in the bathroom again. When my husband is home I can go to the bathroom alone. When he is at work, the bathroom is a public place with inquiring eyes and poking fingers. The genius who lived in our house before us decided to rig all the doorknobs so that no door actually latches. If I want privacy in the bathroom I have to contort myself so one leg is pushing against the door at all times.
- Showering isn’t guaranteed. I managed to get in a quick shower and an even quicker blow-dry today. No chance of using a straightening iron, that’s for sure. Living on the west coast, most days I can rival Monica in that Friends episode where she goes to Barbados. 🙂
- Getting out of the house in the morning takes two hours. Wrangling my beautiful 18 month old daughter into her clothing takes a team of people. She doesn’t mind that her diaper is lopsided, clothes mismatched and hair a puffy cloud that matches her Mommy’s. When her Daddy is around she gets colour-coordinated outfits and (an attempt at) pigtails.
At 5:15pm the magical sound of my husband’s key rattles in the lock. I breathe a sigh of relief. Back-up has arrived!
p.s. If you are a single parent or your partner works away from home a lot, I bow down to you.
p.p.s. If you have more than two children I bow down to you too. I’m not sure I could handle being chronically outnumbered. 😉
murphy must have had kids 
Remember, your Grandma had six! Just keep loving them Hon…we love you and your beauties…Gramma B xoxoxoxo
I am the luckiest girl ever to have my amazing, beautiful, 88-year-old grandma reading and commenting on my blog.
I *totally* get this. Sadly, I get even more spoiled than most since DH is a teacher and gets such long breaks. I know my reality check is coming on Monday and I’M NOT READY! I really like sleeping until 8am every day. (And there is DEFINITELY a special place in Heaven reserved for single parents!!)
Having just one is hard enough! Reading your blog makes me even more terrified about the arrival of baby #2!
It’s good to go in with your eyes wide open. lol All kidding aside, it is so, so worth it and I’d never go back. 🙂 My kids are starting to actually play together and it’s awesome.
Yes, Kudos to the single parents of the world. Very grateful for my involved husband. We also had some of that as the holidays are over. I’m glad it was a short week, I still need this weekend to get organized (and the Xmas stuff back in the garage).
My hair looks like Monica’s in that Friends episode if I don’t straighten it as well. I think about that episode all the time! I really think having kids is what made my hair so frizzy. It gets a little better as the kids get older. But really, then they can do for themselves, they just won’t. 😉
Some days things like this make me tear up and sometimes they make me smile…today it’s a smile…as a single mother of 3 littles I so wish I had some “relief” at 5…but I even though I don’t, it warms my heart to hear about the amazing hubbies/daddies out there!
There is a special place in heaven for you. 🙂