Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Being a single parent is hard

Husband was away last week at a conference. Um, being a single parent is hard. I don't understand how people who are actually single parents can survive. I mean it literally does not compute. I was absolutely exhausted from chasing the Bean around all week without being able to tag out when I needed it.

How did I cope? Caffeine, chocolate, and (apparently) cleaning my house from top to bottom.

Bean is at a stage where she's both exploring and clingy. She alternates between running full speed around the house, throwing toys at the dog, and gripping my leg, begging "Upp! Upp!" as I try to make her dinner. She's also developing her tantrum technique... so let's say you think it's a bad idea that she runs around the house with a toothbrush in her mouth (I have nightmares of it getting lodged in her throat someday)... you can try to trade her for something else, you can try to distract her with a song, but eventually you gotta strong arm it away from her. This now results in a full-fledged kicking, screaming tantrum. Awesome. We are now officially in toddler mode.

3 comments:

EcoGeoFemme said...

At least she likes her toothbrush! Hang in there, Sciencemama.

Isis the Scientist said...

My husband is a stay at home dad and spends all day with our toddler. I don't know how he manages to do it because I find myself exhausted after 3 hours of evening-time routine. I am not sure what I would do if my dearly beloved started conferencing.

Queen Zucchini said...

Tell me about it! After 3 weeks of single parenting I am nearly ready to tie the tubes ;) But not quite yet...

Next time I'd hire a babysitter for at least one of the nights he's gone. Even if you just go to a friend's house and sit on her couch for a few hours, it'll be worth it.