No rest for the weary
Funnydad's been away for a week, including the weekend this time. His new job requires a good bit of travel often for long stretches, so I'm trying to learn how to handle his trips gracefully rather than just, well, surviving them. Earlier in the week I had all kinds of witty thoughts about a post that would include the great things we did to make the time pass quickly. Activities, outings, projects. Days one through four weren't bad. Things started going downhill on Friday, day five, and now today, day seven, we're shot. All three of us. Forget grace, this is about endurance.
In addition to the stress you might expect, the girls picked this week to DROP THEIR NAP. I'm serious. We'd been in "rest time" mode for a while where they might or might not sleep, but this week they let the pretense of rest time go and started barreling through the day. Despite all my best parenting techniques, threats, and punishments, they were bouncing around their room, mocking rest time with dresser climbing, toothpaste eating, and laughter. No break for mom. But wait! They need to make up that sleep somewhere, at least part of it, so this lack of nap means the post-dinner time is so much fun now -- full of more sibling skirmishes, tears, and whining than usual. Nice. Just when I have the reserves to cope. And just to make things more challenging, it turns out they don't not nap every day. I have to guess based on behavior. Today we were at a Christmas thing, everyone all merry so I decided they were rested enough to skip today. WRONG. I'm sure we'll figure something out, but really, did this have to start this week, before a holiday while dad man is on a trip?
Here's to all the single parents out there. This is one tough line of work. They're worth it, of course, and maybe it'll get easier with practice. But if I had a nickel for every time this week I wished there were bourbon in the house, I'd have, well, a bottle of bourbon. Funnydad comes home tomorrow for shore leave (my term, because he leaves for another trip a day and a half later). Then he's home for a week, then off again just before Christmas. The good news is that the few friends I've made here are coming through in spades with play dates, dinner offers, and general support.
I remember being worried about what would happen when my girls went from two naps to one. That happened on schedule about 15 months, and the way I remember it now there were a few rough days, but it was fine. Soon I discovered silver linings, like we could take an outing for the whole morning to the zoo or the children's museum. They're making this new no-nap transition right on time, too, between three and three and a half. And I imagine after a rough patch I'll forget most of the hairy parts, and find some silver lining here. Hard to see now, but, as I mentioned, it's been a tough week.
In addition to the stress you might expect, the girls picked this week to DROP THEIR NAP. I'm serious. We'd been in "rest time" mode for a while where they might or might not sleep, but this week they let the pretense of rest time go and started barreling through the day. Despite all my best parenting techniques, threats, and punishments, they were bouncing around their room, mocking rest time with dresser climbing, toothpaste eating, and laughter. No break for mom. But wait! They need to make up that sleep somewhere, at least part of it, so this lack of nap means the post-dinner time is so much fun now -- full of more sibling skirmishes, tears, and whining than usual. Nice. Just when I have the reserves to cope. And just to make things more challenging, it turns out they don't not nap every day. I have to guess based on behavior. Today we were at a Christmas thing, everyone all merry so I decided they were rested enough to skip today. WRONG. I'm sure we'll figure something out, but really, did this have to start this week, before a holiday while dad man is on a trip?
Here's to all the single parents out there. This is one tough line of work. They're worth it, of course, and maybe it'll get easier with practice. But if I had a nickel for every time this week I wished there were bourbon in the house, I'd have, well, a bottle of bourbon. Funnydad comes home tomorrow for shore leave (my term, because he leaves for another trip a day and a half later). Then he's home for a week, then off again just before Christmas. The good news is that the few friends I've made here are coming through in spades with play dates, dinner offers, and general support.
I remember being worried about what would happen when my girls went from two naps to one. That happened on schedule about 15 months, and the way I remember it now there were a few rough days, but it was fine. Soon I discovered silver linings, like we could take an outing for the whole morning to the zoo or the children's museum. They're making this new no-nap transition right on time, too, between three and three and a half. And I imagine after a rough patch I'll forget most of the hairy parts, and find some silver lining here. Hard to see now, but, as I mentioned, it's been a tough week.
Comments
Anyways, I had to laugh at the video! How adorable! Oh, and Nick got rid of his nap this past summer. I love it now! He's in bed by 7pm and I get my nights to myself! Once this transition passes, I think it will be a good thing! But, you do have two little ones so I can imagine it's tougher than just my one!