Rookie Mom vs. Dad’s out of town trip

Awesome Mom (pay no attention to what she calls herself in the heading) has a guest post for us all! Let's read, shall we: 

So, I’m not new to this mom stuff.  But, as the parent working outside of the home, I often feel like the rookie mom.  I’ll say to my husband “did you hear, Awesome Baby said ‘bus’?!?” and he responds with a ho-hum “oh yeah, he started saying that last week.  Didn’t I tell you?”.  I don’t know all of their routines, and while the kids will put up with my lack of skill on the weekends, mid-week is a whole different story.  Well, this week, I am battling my husband’s two day out of town trip.  While Awesome Preschooler has vacation bible school (VBS).  And I need to keep up with work from home.  I need survival skills and I need them now!  So, here are my 5 things to do to set yourself up for success if you’re feeling like a rookie parent like I am.

Be nice to yourself

On a good day, sleep is at a premium around here.  As the solo parent, it’s non-existent.  So, I make sure to stay up late, worry a lot and watch a scary show before bed.  Hey, why not, right?  But let me tell you what, that coffee I buy after dropping off Awesome Preschooler at VBS tastes amazing and it will power me through until at least lunch time.

Be flexible

So my big plan to work at home while Awesome Preschooler is at VBS and Awesome Baby is napping was completely foiled by Awesome Baby sleeping in.  After a little whining to Awkward Mom, I sucked it up and enjoyed a few hours walking around Target with Awesome Baby.  We lost his baseball cap and touched everything in the dollar aisle.  That counts as quality time and me being flexible.  Win/win.  And, the work got done while I was staying up late anyway.

Take care of “stuff” when they’re sleeping

Whenever I’m home with kids when I would otherwise be working, I have visions of getting “so much done!”.  Right… Any stuff I need to do is best done when they are sleeping, since I haven’t figured out that skill parents who stay home have to do 1,800 things while still making their kids feel like they are being attended to.  What do they call that skill, anyway?  Needless to say, I was able to work, shower, pick up the house, and talk to my husband in a record three hours.  I’m feeling pretty accomplished, in spite of it all.

Ask for help

This is probably the most important tip of all.  Just because my husband can do it all every day, doesn’t mean I have to.  Asking for help kept my sanity during this madness.  A generous friend of mine was able to bring Awesome Preschooler home after VBS to play with her son while I was waiting for Awesome Baby’s nap to finish.  That gave me a chance to do some “stuff” and also prep for the madness that includes “the witching hour”.  You know the witching hour – where your children lose their ever-loving minds right at the moment you are trying to get a nutritious dinner on the table.  Or some hot dogs and a grape.  That they eat 3 bites of and throw on the floor.

Be nice to your partner

This one might be tough.  Come on, he ditched me for two days/three nights with these crazy people and all they want is him!  It’s all they talk about.  He really doesn’t need to hear about how Awesome Baby woke up at 5 am and never really went to sleep again, right?  He doesn’t need to hear about the epic bath that resulted in an almost flood, right?  No, he needs to hear that we miss him, we’re keeping ourselves busy and that the house is still standing.  Oh, and maybe I should warn him about all of those Starbucks charges on the debit card.  Or not…

That was....wait for it......AWESOME! Thanks for sharing, Awesome Mom!