Flying Solo: Part One

Yesterday my husband Tony left with his best friend for a 10-day elk hunting trip. Hunting and the mountains are some of Tony’s great passions. He’s not been on a hunt since we were married three years ago, so I’ve been (or at least tried to be) really supportive of him going this year.

I caveat “or at least tried to be” because him being gone puts a bit of extra stress on me. This past month and a half has brought a lot of change for the family – baby Kate arrived and Leo changed schools to start first grade – so everyone’s in a bit of a transition phase. And transition phases always seems to make things extra stressful, crazy and over the top.

Only one day in, and I can already tell this next week is going to be a wild ride. So I’m going to document the spectacle that it is. Maybe others will enjoy the chaos and craziness. I know I plan to (as best I can).

Day One:
Bedtime last night was a bit of a disaster. Typically the boys go down for the night relatively smoothly, but not last night. Instead my six year old was a hot mess. It ended up taking about an hour and a half to finally get him to go to sleep. Tears. Attempted negotiations to sleep anywhere other than his bed. Frantic yelling across the house with him begging me to spank him… I was grateful and mentally exhausted when he finally managed to fall asleep.

This morning the baby projectile pooped on me. While that’s hardly noteworthy given how common that type of thing is with babies. But this was the first time Kate’s done that to me, so I was caught a little off-guard and unprepared.

At lunch I got the first call of the year from the school nurse. Leo was running a fever and had a sore throat. Turns out he has strep throat, and that myself and the other kids have already been exposed to it. So that’s going to be fun. I’m hoping I can luck out and the other kids won’t end up catching it, but since I’m parenting alone this week, I’m guessing we’ll end up with a full house of sickies before it’s all said and done.

Stay tuned for updates on the rest of our week. I’m sure there will be many examples of Murphy’s Law that should be good for a chuckle if nothing else.