First off, to all those military moms (and dads) and single parents that have to take care of kids and work and live life by yourself I give you SO MANY PROPS!! You are the real heroes and I give you so much respect.
My husband travels for work quite a bit, it has slowed down lately but there were months that it felt like he was gone every other week. When it was just us, I won’t lie, I welcomed the alone time, the control over the TV, the choice of menu, the ability to just have the house to myself. But now, trying to work, take care of the house, and wrangle the toddler who is growing more and more independent every day exhausts me beyond belief the weeks he is gone.
Those seem to be the weeks too, that she decides to be extra sassy, or not sleep, or be Uber picky with her meals. It’s enough to make a mama need a glass of wine, or two, or a bottle. So seriously, let me reiterate again how much I admire those who have to do this every day of their lives, or months on end! Seriously you all are amazing!!!
The days/weeks that it’s just me and homegirl, I start my day at 4am because I have to take an hour out of my workday to drive Cameron to daycare. Thankfully I work with AMAZING people who allow me to do this and let me adjust my schedule to make up the time. Then when I get off work, depending on the day and daycare pick up time, I’ll get some housework chores done, prep dinner, prep lunch for the next day, get my workout in, and any other miscellaneous things I need to do before I drive to get Cameron. Then once home it’s normally about time to start cooking dinner, then we eat, Cameron gets a bath, we play, then it’s bedtime. And sadly shortly after Cameron goes to bed I do too because of how early I get up in the morning.
It’s a bit repetitive but it’s what I found works for us on the weeks it’s just the two of us. I try to plan dinners that will give good leftovers so that I don’t have to cook every night of the week. And hopefully they can also be used for some lunches for Cameron so I don’t have to over-plan for those.
It is great to have such a support system in place with how great my job is with allowing me to alter my schedule, Cameron’s daycare is the best too when they know it’s just me since my husband is normally the drop-off and pick-up parent. And even though they live so far, it’s also nice to have family and friends listen to me if I feel overwhelmed.
Hopefully one of these days we will live closer to family, or my husband won’t have to travel as much. So all you parents out there, rocking this, you go pour yourself a drink because I KNOW you need it!
