I Don't Know How Single Parents Do It

When Himself and I were first married, he had a job requiring a lot of travel.  And he was in business school part-time as well, so it was just me and the cat at home many evenings and weekends. Then it was me, the cat and baby Thing One.  He finished the MBA shortly before Thing Two was born, thankfully, but was still on the road a great deal. Those were challenging years, since Thing Two was a handful even as a newborn and the boys are only 25 months apart.  And of course, things became even crazier once The Girl was born.  Not entirely sure how we all got through that phase, actually.

A few years ago, Himself was promoted into a job requiring much less travel.  He likes the actual job less, but he spends much less time in planes now.  I've finally gotten accustomed to having him home every night.  Even after a long day at the office, he's great with the kids...this is a lifesaver since my stores of patience, which are sadly limited anyway, are completely depleted by their bedtime after long days of wrangling and logistics.  He handles the bedtime routine on his own more often than not...I just kiss them all goodnight!

Unfortunately, last week and this week he has had to work late a number of days, getting home well after the kids are in bed.  I'm not used to having to handle the whole show alone anymore.  Trying not to lose my gourd at anyone as the evening witching hour approaches is a real challenge!  I have so much respect for the parents who do this alone all the time...parenthood is the toughest job in the world if you do it right, even for two parents working together.