Saturday, April 30, 2011

Single parenting weekend

I'm coming to the end of my weekend sans husband. Thanks to technology, we haven't been out of touch - we've talked on the phone, texted, I've sent him pictures of the kids and he's commented on my Facebook statuses. But I really, really miss him. We're not fans of being apart.

I can appreciate small things about going solo, however. The house stays so much neater when he's not around. Don't get me wrong - I'd rather have him and the mess. But whenever he has to be gone for a few days, I am surprised at how much easier it is to keep things picked up and clean. I suppose that's helped along by the fact that I tend to skip cooking real dinners and go right to frozen corn dogs or, the treat of last evening, McDonald's (because let's face it, my kids barely eat anything at dinnertime anyway, so cooking a big meal doesn't make much sense); so that does cut down on the dishes.

I'm great about getting the kids to bed on time when he's not here. When he's home, I often push bedtime (since I'm the timekeeper of the family, who has to announce - upstairs to bed! - or nothing will happen), because I see him enjoying time with our kids after work and I don't want it to end. But we do have to be careful because our kids need their sleep. Being on my own all day, I'm more than ready for them to go to bed when bedtime rolls around!

Not having him here makes me appreciate when a great dad he really is. He's helpful and involved. He's loving and affectionate. He scoops up our kids with hugs and kisses until they squeal for him to stop. A father's love is so vital to a child and he gives it in abundance. I can't wait for their faces and shrieks of happiness when we pick him up at the airport tomorrow.

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