Lone Parenting ... For a weekend!
Oh my goodness!
Hats off to all you lone parents. It definitely is not for the faint-hearted is it!?!
Dale was away this weekend (from Friday tea-time to Sunday late afternoon) with the youth club at their yearly weekend away (to Gortin?? - who knows where that is!) so I was here lone parenting for that time. It's hard work! I mean it's hard work all the time but on the weekends I normally have help and this weekend was tough.
Rose decided that this weekend was the one to be really attached to daddy and scream because he wasn't here. I mean, what am I supposed to do with that issue right there? If it was really bad then I had to pop her on her bed and tell her that screaming, in an extremely high-pitched way, was not going to help anything. In fact, it might actually make matters worse and in most cases, for Rose, it did because it made Mattias cry or annoyed (which made his start screaming) and it gave me a headache ... which I'm still nursing even now. As I write this she is lying on the floor crying with her blanket ... please tell me that these days of the screaming end.
What did we do this weekend?
We circled the wagons after some coffee with friends. A phrase that I heard once from a family friend when they kept the outer world out. In the morning I thought it would be fun for the little ones to get together with some of the toddlers that they used to see quite frequently but with work and different things that just doesn't happen anymore. We had 3 other little girls here, all that I have watched grow since birth and seeing them now walking and babbling is such a beautiful thing. Each girl is so different and wonderfully unique!
What did I make for our fun with the mums and kids?
Brownies! I cut them into little rectangles so that you can eat more and still trick yourself that you hardly ate anything (it's a thing I promise - just picture me laughing a lot here!), as well as the brownies, we made our trademark mini cookies which JD and I love to make. These are perfect for little ones who are allowed a little sugar or perfect for those mums who need to pop it in their mouths before their mini versions spy them eating something that they want. Trust me, for those of you waiting for this to happen to you ... it will. I can attest to that with all three of mine doing just that. JD still does it!
For the little ones, I had a little bowl of fruit, raisins, breadsticks and some crisps, as well as pancakes for both the little ones and the little at heart. Unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to make them myself but I would love to make mini ones the next time. (maybe for Mattias's birthday party? hmmm, there's a thought ... wonder what else I could make in mini versions ...)
There was supposed to be a little bowl of the party ring biscuits but I found out that they happened to make their way to Dale's work last week and had been eaten - along with the chocolate oatmeal biscuits too - RAGE!!!! (just picture a very confused me trying to find these biscuits as I am on the phone to my husband and asking him where I put them ... cue the sheepish husband going 'oops!' and the exasperated sigh on this end of the phone, plus him telling me that there happens to be an abundance of food down where he is - if that helps) Rose loves these and I had thought maybe the other kids would like them too. (throws hands up in the air in exasperation)
After all the little people (and their mummy's) left, it was a quick dash to get bottles into the babies mouths and snuggled into bed for a few hours ... only Rose didn't happen to sleep, no! instead, she wanted to climb her bed and start making a mess. Thankfully I managed to catch her before the real mess making started. Turns out she had done a dirty nappy after she had been put down and when this happens she won't sleep. So a quick change, a tiny bit more milk and under her blanket .... 3 hours later I had to wake them both. If I had let them sleep any more that would not have bode well for the evening - cranky kid central!
Did I say cranky kid central for the evening??? um - it was right from wake-up time. I had a plan though - FACETIME!!!
The wonders of technology!!! I love technology when it is used at the right time. Trust that this time was THEE right time. Dale's face came up and the smiles and grins and cue the really sweet girly sound of 'hello daddy!' to seeing the one her little heart wanted. Dale asked her if she was being naughty. Hats off to her because she was honest and said 'yes!' Dale put his cross face on and told her to behave ... it worked for maybe 10 minutes before the screaming started again (puts head in hands)
We all piled into the living room to watch the next RBS 6 Nations match for Ireland - Ireland versus Scotland. Ireland won! which helped to improve my faltering mood. At this point I wanted to go into my room, close the door and let chaos descend even more ... hardly mother of the year stuff there BUT I had help coming ..... GRANNY!!!! granny came for dinner because my dad was away too (he's a leader as well) shortly after dinner it was, thankfully bedtime .. oh the longed-for time for any parent I think. When the little heads hit the pillow and quietness falls over the land of home.
The only thing is though the quietness is sometimes deafening when there is no-one else to talk to. I did my usual sweep of the house cleaning and tidying preparing for the next day. I got my bed ready (hot water bottles) made myself a cup of tea and sat and watched Taken - if you haven't seen that one then you should watch it .... I love Liam Neeson's speech :
'I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. Of you are looking for ransom I can tell you I don't have any money, but what I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills I have a quired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you, but if you don't I will look for you, I will find you and I will kill you!'
then get ready for fast-paced chaos to unfold on the screen!!!
Sunday came around and boy was I thankful - it was almost home time for Dale. It was just church then naptime and happy days daddy would be home ... well during church Mattias (our normally very laid back, happy with everyone child) decided that he wouldn't settle in creche which meant that my 30 minutes of peace to listen to the sermon were no existent as I had to go out to him. We got home, naptime and JD went to spend some time reading in his room. I was happily enjoying a HOT cup of tea and waiting to hear that Dale was on his way .... the opposite happened.
The driver was late because he got lost, they were over an hour late which meant that dinner time was pushed, cranky kids waking from their naptime were crankier because daddy wasn't there. Making dinner was difficult with 2 children hanging off my legs and another asking every 5 minutes where daddy was. I texted Dale and I said that he better get home soon or I'm going to basically self combust! Fifteen minutes later he walked in the front door to a very excited squealing Rose, a very fast crawling Mattias and a very loud excited shouting Jonathan. I was in the kitchen, I leaned against the counter, head against the cupboard door and let out a huge sigh of relief. Daddy's home!
We sat down and enjoyed having Dale back alongside the yummy roast chicken dinner I made (I even managed to spatchcock the chicken!)
The final plate up ...
I will say that this weekend took its toll on me, I found it very difficult to remain sane. My whole being was exhausted and I went to bed that night and was asleep by 845pm. That was great apart from Mattias deciding that he would be wide awake from 3am to just after 5am!
I'm still recovering but I am proud of myself for keeping the house running, the kids fed and alive and ... the fish remained alive too. I think something that did create a lot of joy for me was Mattias, on Sunday morning, took his first step. He is a determined little boy. All my children, while can create difficulties, provide such joy and blessings are abundant with them. I would change how I cope with their behaviour but I wouldn't change them.
I just want to give a shout out to all you parents - mummy's and daddy's that do this day in day out and don't have a partner coming home. You are amazing! you guys deserve medals for everything that you do for your kids. You are superheroes in my book. I don't know how you manage when a weekend was definitely enough for me on my own. If I could I would bring you all a trophy.
Hats off to all you lone parents. It definitely is not for the faint-hearted is it!?!
(picture from google images)
Dale was away this weekend (from Friday tea-time to Sunday late afternoon) with the youth club at their yearly weekend away (to Gortin?? - who knows where that is!) so I was here lone parenting for that time. It's hard work! I mean it's hard work all the time but on the weekends I normally have help and this weekend was tough.
Rose decided that this weekend was the one to be really attached to daddy and scream because he wasn't here. I mean, what am I supposed to do with that issue right there? If it was really bad then I had to pop her on her bed and tell her that screaming, in an extremely high-pitched way, was not going to help anything. In fact, it might actually make matters worse and in most cases, for Rose, it did because it made Mattias cry or annoyed (which made his start screaming) and it gave me a headache ... which I'm still nursing even now. As I write this she is lying on the floor crying with her blanket ... please tell me that these days of the screaming end.
What did we do this weekend?
We circled the wagons after some coffee with friends. A phrase that I heard once from a family friend when they kept the outer world out. In the morning I thought it would be fun for the little ones to get together with some of the toddlers that they used to see quite frequently but with work and different things that just doesn't happen anymore. We had 3 other little girls here, all that I have watched grow since birth and seeing them now walking and babbling is such a beautiful thing. Each girl is so different and wonderfully unique!
What did I make for our fun with the mums and kids?
Brownies! I cut them into little rectangles so that you can eat more and still trick yourself that you hardly ate anything (it's a thing I promise - just picture me laughing a lot here!), as well as the brownies, we made our trademark mini cookies which JD and I love to make. These are perfect for little ones who are allowed a little sugar or perfect for those mums who need to pop it in their mouths before their mini versions spy them eating something that they want. Trust me, for those of you waiting for this to happen to you ... it will. I can attest to that with all three of mine doing just that. JD still does it!
For the little ones, I had a little bowl of fruit, raisins, breadsticks and some crisps, as well as pancakes for both the little ones and the little at heart. Unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to make them myself but I would love to make mini ones the next time. (maybe for Mattias's birthday party? hmmm, there's a thought ... wonder what else I could make in mini versions ...)
 |
| Did you know that according to the Telegraph theses are one of the top 27 biscuits? I didn't. (picture from Telegraph) |
After all the little people (and their mummy's) left, it was a quick dash to get bottles into the babies mouths and snuggled into bed for a few hours ... only Rose didn't happen to sleep, no! instead, she wanted to climb her bed and start making a mess. Thankfully I managed to catch her before the real mess making started. Turns out she had done a dirty nappy after she had been put down and when this happens she won't sleep. So a quick change, a tiny bit more milk and under her blanket .... 3 hours later I had to wake them both. If I had let them sleep any more that would not have bode well for the evening - cranky kid central!
Did I say cranky kid central for the evening??? um - it was right from wake-up time. I had a plan though - FACETIME!!!
The wonders of technology!!! I love technology when it is used at the right time. Trust that this time was THEE right time. Dale's face came up and the smiles and grins and cue the really sweet girly sound of 'hello daddy!' to seeing the one her little heart wanted. Dale asked her if she was being naughty. Hats off to her because she was honest and said 'yes!' Dale put his cross face on and told her to behave ... it worked for maybe 10 minutes before the screaming started again (puts head in hands)
We all piled into the living room to watch the next RBS 6 Nations match for Ireland - Ireland versus Scotland. Ireland won! which helped to improve my faltering mood. At this point I wanted to go into my room, close the door and let chaos descend even more ... hardly mother of the year stuff there BUT I had help coming ..... GRANNY!!!! granny came for dinner because my dad was away too (he's a leader as well) shortly after dinner it was, thankfully bedtime .. oh the longed-for time for any parent I think. When the little heads hit the pillow and quietness falls over the land of home.
The only thing is though the quietness is sometimes deafening when there is no-one else to talk to. I did my usual sweep of the house cleaning and tidying preparing for the next day. I got my bed ready (hot water bottles) made myself a cup of tea and sat and watched Taken - if you haven't seen that one then you should watch it .... I love Liam Neeson's speech :
'I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. Of you are looking for ransom I can tell you I don't have any money, but what I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills I have a quired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you, but if you don't I will look for you, I will find you and I will kill you!'
(picture from IMDB)
Sunday came around and boy was I thankful - it was almost home time for Dale. It was just church then naptime and happy days daddy would be home ... well during church Mattias (our normally very laid back, happy with everyone child) decided that he wouldn't settle in creche which meant that my 30 minutes of peace to listen to the sermon were no existent as I had to go out to him. We got home, naptime and JD went to spend some time reading in his room. I was happily enjoying a HOT cup of tea and waiting to hear that Dale was on his way .... the opposite happened.
(Picture from google maps)
The driver was late because he got lost, they were over an hour late which meant that dinner time was pushed, cranky kids waking from their naptime were crankier because daddy wasn't there. Making dinner was difficult with 2 children hanging off my legs and another asking every 5 minutes where daddy was. I texted Dale and I said that he better get home soon or I'm going to basically self combust! Fifteen minutes later he walked in the front door to a very excited squealing Rose, a very fast crawling Mattias and a very loud excited shouting Jonathan. I was in the kitchen, I leaned against the counter, head against the cupboard door and let out a huge sigh of relief. Daddy's home!
We sat down and enjoyed having Dale back alongside the yummy roast chicken dinner I made (I even managed to spatchcock the chicken!)
the chicken was spatchcocked, on top of lots of baby potatoes and carrots, drizzled with some olive oil and chicken seasoning on top - was so delicious.
The final plate up ...
I will say that this weekend took its toll on me, I found it very difficult to remain sane. My whole being was exhausted and I went to bed that night and was asleep by 845pm. That was great apart from Mattias deciding that he would be wide awake from 3am to just after 5am!
I'm still recovering but I am proud of myself for keeping the house running, the kids fed and alive and ... the fish remained alive too. I think something that did create a lot of joy for me was Mattias, on Sunday morning, took his first step. He is a determined little boy. All my children, while can create difficulties, provide such joy and blessings are abundant with them. I would change how I cope with their behaviour but I wouldn't change them.
I just want to give a shout out to all you parents - mummy's and daddy's that do this day in day out and don't have a partner coming home. You are amazing! you guys deserve medals for everything that you do for your kids. You are superheroes in my book. I don't know how you manage when a weekend was definitely enough for me on my own. If I could I would bring you all a trophy.
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| image from https://thinkingmomsrevolution.com/15-reasons-special-needs-moms-superheroes/ |
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