A Week As a Single Working Mom - 9.5 Months

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! We made it!!!

Put your party hats on!!! We survived the week without dad!

Karl left for educational work training Monday morning (in Vegas...sound rough, huh?) . Today is the day we get to pick him up from the airport! Major props to all those moms out there who are either single or have hubbies who work around the clock. How do you do it??

There was a note left on our kitchen island this week that really made me think. "We never realize how much our husbands do until they go out of town."

Yup. I couldn't agree more.

Sure Karl works late every night and doesn't get home until bath time (7 ish) and goes in on the weekends, but at least I DO see him and get SOME help. In the days leading up to him leaving, I got myself SO worked up that I now have that ugly cough/cold thing going around. A stressed-induced cold. And Jackson has it too. That was just dumb.


Up, mom! Up!

I AM strong enough to handle this mom stuff on my own! Why did I ever doubt? Why do I EVER doubt??? Worry is SUCH wasted energy.

I felt I handled this week quite well, but honestly there was not a second to relax until Friday night - and then I stayed up too late and Jackson woke up too early and we're back to being tired again. Ohhhh, motherhood.

Yessss! Dirt!!!!!!

A quick recap of how a typical day went as a single working mama:

Alarm off at 5:30 a.m. (yes...using an ALARM now!!!!!!! Not just relying on Jackson!!!). No time to hit snooze because Jackson could wake at any minute. Can't deal with him up while trying to shower. Fly through shower-time and make sure I at LEAST get makeup on. I'm OK with wet hair.

Race downstairs to get breakfast going and make sure I have everything ready for daycare. (I did get things prepared the night before but some things are in the fridge and can't be dealt with until the next morning.)

"Ba-Ba! Ahhahahahahah! Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba."

I hear Jackson. Shovel down hot oatmeal as fast as I can and race upstairs.

Fort building time

Play a little peek-a-boo and love and hug up Jackson.  He is extra cute in the morning. Change him while distracting him since he REFUSES to lay still on his back. Like REFUSES. Oh...is that a turd that just flew off the changing table onto the floor? Super. Remember to pick that up later. Changing table straps are tucked underneath the cover (thanks DAD!) and I can't snap Jackson in. Poop on hands. Now what? Set Jackson on the floor. He knocks over diaper pale. BOOM. Carry him kiddy-wampus into the bathroom so I can wash hands. He crawls to toilet and starts banging on it. "No! No! Don't be touching that."

He falls and crawls to the door stopper and pulls of the plastic covering and pops into mouth.

"Nooooooooooo!!!" I dig into his mouth with slippery wet hands.

No...I'm not about to do anything naughty...

He gets mad and crawls off. Yanks out Carbon Monoxide plug in. "No touch, buddy! No touch!"

Carry Jackson into our closet while I try to find something to wear. I pick out an outfit that does not match but hey, pants are NOT wrinkled! YAY! I don't have to deal with ironing. Last morning I tried, Jackson popped off the cap to the distilled water. Soaked his socks and pants. Had to go back to changing him and getting him to lay still. This time pee shot onto his Mum-Mum and into mouth. AWESOME.

Jackson in clean outfit. Mom in something that looks semi-professional and downstairs we go. *Grunt* "Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh." Look at Jackson and his watery eyes. He grunts more. Back upstairs we go. More poop. Yay!  He rolls and screams some more on the changing table. I'm about one second from losing my mind. Deep breath in. And out. I can do this. Look calm. Jackson can read me, right?

Seriously...when is dad getting home?

Back downstairs we go. Grab all 1567890 bags, make sure all pump parts and bottles and cooler are ready for work. Plop Jackson into car seat. Jackson arches back and screams. Again, this baby does NOT like to be on his back. We wrestle for a good five minutes. What is the deal here? I AM stronger than him and how is he winning??? In and out and in and out of the car seat we go. Finally I grab the kitchen timer and shake vigorously. "Doesn't this look neat buddy???" He scoots his butt in and settles down in car seat. SUCCESS!!! Point for mom!

Off to daycare we go. TRAFFIC JAM!!! A dusting of snow. But nobody can drive. We sit. And sit. Jackson starts wailing. I sing. I bee bop. I talk about nothing. "Hey...doesn't that Sam's Club sign look neat, Jackson?" Then I laugh at myself.

We make it to daycare!!!!!!!!! I'm already 30 minutes late to work. Chat with the awesome Jenna and her kids. Say goodbye to my buddy and off to work I go. I arrive an hour late. Feel the daggers coming out of my coworkers' eyes. I sit down for a second. Oh...what's that? Pumping time already? Off to the bathroom I go to pump.

March back to my desk. Pump out work as fast as I can.  Focus. Text Karl. Text my mom. Email Jenna - check in on Jackson. Work. Think. Worry. Skip taking a lunch break and eat at desk.

Off to get Jackson. Snuggle him up. Go through car seat struggle. Jackson moans on the way home. Sometimes screams. Sometimes babbles. And we arrive home. Carry up car seat and all 456789 bags with me. Put pump parts by sink and milk in fridge. I'll deal with those later. Play with Jackson. Get a bunch of texts and emails but ignore until Jackson goes down. Otherwise he ends up in the dirt or pinching a finger in all the doors he is obsessed with opening or falling or crawling up stairs...or....or. Focus on him. I nurse him. I make his dinner. I TRY making MY dinner. yeah, right. No go. 7:15 arrives. We head up for a bath. Nervous because this is dad's time. But...I make it work and all goes well. Kind of fun... NO wonder dad likes bath time!! We get ready for bed. I nurse. I sing. We cuddle. We read Goodnight Moon and we pray. I like this time a lot. I give thanks for him as crazy as my day is because he is something special. I feel joy. I feel like I just did something amazing. I feel like I accomplished a lot.

Laundry is fun!

I walk downstairs. Throw some food together. Do dishes and crawl right back up and into my own bed. That was EXHAUSTING. Wake up at 1:30 a.m. thinking.... and thinking... and thinking...  until 5.

ANYWAY... WE SURVIVED!!! WOOHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!