It's Day 3 of "Andy Stays Home with the Kids." For all my joking that I'm slowly coming unglued, I'm really not. I'm even enjoying it.
On Saturday, we dropped Deborah off at the airport, and, after asking around, learned of a mini-parking lot at the end of the runway where we could watch the airplanes take off and land. Fort Wayne International (what, they have one flight a week from Canada?) isn't the busiest airport, so we just got to see Deborah's plane leave.
Sunday, we made it to church, and I did my stint in the recording booth. Apparently someone explained our situation in Sunday school, because lots of people were going out of their way to stop, say hi, and see how it was going.
Today, I got everyone up and dressed (I remembered the Risanna's shoes this time!) and got the whole crew over to the piano teacher's house for an early lesson. The lesson was a new experience for me; Mrs Popenfoose took the time to explain what I should be watching for as Fiona practices. Fiona's doing really well. Obviously she gets her musical talent from Deborah!
So far, things are going smoothly. Sure, the baby is sick, and won't eat or drink much — especially frustrating, given that I put twice as much work into her food — but we're dealing with it OK, I think. Every bite is a victory. I'm not sure I can say the same for the rest of our meals. I can cook; I can cook well; it's just obviously not a part of my everyday routine. So far, I've only succumbed to the "make it quick" temptation twice — frozen pizza and mac 'n' cheese — but at least I added some tuna, tomatoes, and chives to the macaroni, which turns it into something edible, rather than just a glaringly orange heap of cheap carbohydrates. Tonight, I'm going to strive for some real food. Gallo pinto, perhaps.
I'm learning to combine trips wherever possible. I'm not going to bundle everyone into the car for a trip to the local Redbox (ice cream floats and a movie have been the norm once the kids are in bed) but I do make a note that it can be combined with a trip to the library, or somesuch. A lot more planning ahead than I'm used to.
Lastly, I think I've been hard on single parents. Raising kids alone isn't an easy thing, and up until yesterday, I would have characterized it as, if not a selfish choice, then at the very least an uninformed one. Then, as I was strolling across the parking lot at Lowe's, I realized: It must have been really bad, if this was the better choice. For all of you saying "Duh!" right now, I'm sorry. I'll walk a mile in your shoes, but my feet stink, OK?
That's all for now. I'm going to go hunt down some recipes...
3 comments:
It has been my observation that being a single parent, in most cases, is not so much a deliberate choice as a consequence. Sure, it is almost always the result of decisions that were made, but usually the outcome is not what was originally envisioned when making the choices.
Hang in there! You can do it Andy! I'll bet this will go down in your family's history as something known as "remember that week Mom was gone and Dad was in charge the whole time". The stories will grow and morph over time, but I bet it will be remembered fondly. What kids don't love some one on one time with Dad? :-)
Hmm...I'm afraid to leave Gus with Rob for more than two hours. Not that he can't do it, but I worry. I'm working on making myself get over it...immersion therapy, confront your fears and all that.
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