It came in like the breeze...

Currently I do a lot of solo parenting. It is the nature of the game for us right now and I am finding ways to make it less daunting. Most days that involves a lot of self talk, deep breathing, and ridiculous behavior on my part to lighten some moods (mine included). Today I jammed out in the car to this on the way back from dropping Lila off at school after a rough morning. I'm talking full on car dancing and singing where the person in the car next to you pretends they don't see you. I looked in my rear view and saw Evie cracking up at my behavior. My first thought was, clearly I need to do this more often. Also, for the record, Uptown Funk is way over played but it WILL change the attitudes of children in the blink of an eye. I know. I've tried it more times than I can count at this point with a one hundred percent success rate.

But, there is no amount of singing and dancing that can cure the end of the day drag. That time somewhere before dinner or after dinner or all around dinner where a stay at home parent daydreams about the moment when everyone is asleep. I have tried all of the things to make this time less exhausting. I'm tired. They are tired. Everyone is starving because it seems they somehow haven't eaten all day or they haven't eaten the dinner I just put in front of them. There's a lot of complaining about who touched what or who didn't share or who brushed a shoulder that basically maimed someone. Everyone's all touchy and emotional. I then do something hateful like ask them to clean up and this charmed life they are leading becomes simply unbearable. This would be the point where mommy contemplates walking outside, with the baby of course, and heading next door to see if the neighbors want to come put my kids to bed because I JUST CAN'T.

And then the universe decides that laughter is the best medicine…next to singing and dancing of course….
 

This charmed life is just that….charmed beyond belief. While my self talk involves a whole lot of "I am grateful, I am grateful, I am so very grateful dammit", it also leaves room for some "it's okay to be over it today". The grateful and the unbearable gets all mixed up in there. But once they are all asleep I sit and watch the laughter over and over again and attempt to pat myself on the back for another day of fairly decent solo parenting.

Big hugs to all of the for real single parents out there. You are rockstars.

*Post title from the song Our Own House by MisterWives linked above*