Single parenthood is not for the weak

...So you think long and hard about that, Kate Gosselin, while you prance on the beach with your "bodyguard" (uh, huh) in your bikini, with your tummy-tucked abdomen and fake tan (not to mention rooster hair).

I'm feeling psychologically stable enough this morning to write about the fact that I've been a single mother this whole week. You should know that I do a decent job of taking care of the kids during the day, but come about 5 pm, I hit the wall. On a normal day, armed with the knowledge that Kevin will be home in the next 2 hours, I can usually rally (and by rally, I mean turn on Dora the Explorer and pour a glass of wine) and hold it together. When I know that no one is coming to relieve me and that I have Round 3 of childcare (The Bath and Bedtime portion of the show) ahead of me, well, it can be a little depressing. Unfortunately for my children, Mommy is the militant one when it comes to baths and bedtime--I like to get it done with as little monkey business as possible, because frankly, Mommy is tired and has had quite enough of you by 7 pm* at night (*oh, and did I mention that I make them go to bed early too? Meany, indeed).

We've done really well this week though. Everything was going smoothly...until last night. I was especially tired last night and was very, very ready to go to bed myself. Anna and I ate dinner early and headed off to take her bath about 6:15pm. After bathtime, we went downhill fast. At 7 pm, Anna had a total mental break with reality and properly lost her shit. I decided that 7 pm was a fine time for bed, so I tersely read her a story and tucked her in, then, I set to work on getting Jack to sleep. He wasn't quite ready yet, but he relaxed in his bouncie seat while I got to sit down and veg a bit. Finally, at 9:30, he succumbed to sleep. After putting him to bed, I headed off to take a much-needed shower and hit the sack. While in the shower, I was about half-way through washing my hair when I opened my eyes to see Anna holding open the shower curtain, silently staring at me. It scared the ever-livin' daylights out of me.

Growing up, the movie Pet Semetary was one of the only horror movies that I'd ever seen (still not a fan of horror movies). It is a strange movie, but the little kid, Gage, is one of the freakiest kids in movie history. Seeing Anna, staring at me in the shower last night, brought back images of Gage:




So, apparently what happened is that Anna went to sleep at 7pm, took a nice 3 hour "nap" and then was ready to get up and play. I've been working on teaching her how to open her bedroom door, so that she doesn't have to bang on it when she's ready to get up. That came back to bite me in the derriere last night, when she let herself out of her room without my knowledge, during my relaxing shower.

I fixed her some more hot milk (she threw her milk during her break with reality earlier in the evening) and let her hang out in our bed with me for awhile. I came *this* close to letting her sleep with me, but didn't want to create a monster--especially since she does so well in her own bed, in her own room. After a few minutes of snuggling, I suggested that we go back to her room, read another book and go back to sleep. She enthusiastically agreed so we went back to her room, read Go Dog Go, tucked her in and that was that. I didn't see her again until this morning, when I had to go and wake her up for school at 8 am.

So, aside from that little glitch (and my almost heart attack in the shower last night) we survived almost a week with only one parent. I certainly don't recommend it and am not looking forward to my next stint as a single mother, but at least I know that I can do it. It might not have been the funnest, most craft-intensive, flash-card-practicing and zoo-visiting week ever, but the house is clean, the laundry is done, the litterboxes are clean(ish) and the children are alive. I call that a success!