Solo Parenting Routine

It always takes me a good week to fully adjust to being a "solo parent".

(I hate using the term "single parent", because I'm not a single parent, and single parents have way different struggles than I do as a solo parent).

It hasn't quite been a full 7 days since Nick's been gone, but I've got a pretty good routine down with my kids.

Routine is what makes my days go by fast, and routine is what gives my day purpose. 

Lately, my favorite parts of my day are my mornings.

By 0630, all of us are up, and we are busy upstairs getting dressed.

0700...breakfast, chit chat, unloading dishwasher...

0800...out the door for the gym...

1000....back home, baby down for a nap, I'm in the shower, Dannika's watching cartoons.

1015ish....Dannika and I sit in our dining room, and write letters and draw pictures for Nick.

1100...baby's awake from his too short nap, and we are all sitting around the kitchen while I prepare lunch.

My mornings just fly by for some reason.

It's the afternoons that seem to drag.

Yesterday, after preschool, I took both kids to an indoor play place called "Jam Time" here in Natick.

It was an icky rainy day, so it was a perfect place to take the kids to wear them out a little a lot.

 Mattis encountered his first "baby bully"...lol.

This little girl snatched his ball right out of his hands while he was playing with it.

He grunted at her, and she shrieked at him.

Then he just laid there on his tummy give here this "are you kidding me?" look.

Funny story that got a lot of attention on Facebook yesterday that I posted.

I met this other mom here at Jam Time yesterday, and we struck up a conversation.

The conversation was mostly about children and fitness (she happened to be a yoga instructor). 

I told her that Nick really enjoyed weight lifting, and somehow the fact that he was a Marine played into our conversation.

I told her he had just left this week for 10 weeks, and briefly described our marriage and all the deployments and separations we have endured so far.

**For the record, I was not asking for a pity party. She actually gave me this look of pity, so I was trying to let her know to not feel sorry for me because I've done this separation thing a gazillion times, and that it's no big deal**

Then she blurted it out...

"I know what it must feel like as a military wife, and how hard it can be. I once dated a doctor, and it was SO HARD!"

I had to walk away for a moment before something obscene came out of my mouth...

After calming down, I actually ended up having a nice play date with this clueless lady.

I figured I'd just avoid talking about military life with her, and all would be peaceful in the suburbs.

But really though....