Single parenting....

Take a deep breath.... This has been my mantra for the past 4 days as I have been floundering in the the midst of life as a single parent. As some of you know, Mark left last Tuesday evening for his annual fall foliage tour (aka men-only-motorcycle-mania) to Colorado and the surrouding areas wherever the road takes them. He, his dad, and some guy friends have been touring on their motorcycles and camping in and around Durango, Ouray, and I lost track of the others. Meanwhile back at the ranch in Piedmont the kids and I have been holding down the fort and learning to appreciate what it means to have a good dad or lack thereof. My workload hasn't changed so much as I am the CEO of the day to day busy work, ie laundry, dishes, cooking, diapers, groceries, boo-boo fixer, housework, chauffeur, etc BUT what we have lacked is the easy-going flexibility that holds us all together. It has become painfully evident that the thing that I sometimes criticize my sweet hubby for is the very thing that we miss the most when he's gone. Daddy is the go to guy who just takes everything we dish out and loves us anyway. He is far more patient than I and is as most dads are, "the fun one." I've always worried what would happen to the children if something were to happen to me, thinking in my vain way that that would be the worst possible scenario. However, this week I've been thinking about what would happen to my kids without their father. This house would smell, the kids would be dirty, there would never be clean underwear, they would know paper plates as dishes or the McDonald's playland as family dinner, but they would know, patience, humility, kindness, gentleness, and most of all unconditional love. I don't say this to say that they couldn't learn that from me but to acknowledge that maybe I could do better to focus on the big picture and let the little stuff go. A little reflection on what's important in life.

Well I didn't intend to do my journaling on my blog but now you know what's on my heart. The kids are doing great and the week has really been uneventful, thank you Lord. Logan had his first cubscout meeting last Tuesday which went very well and he is already reading ahead in his guide on how to be a stellar scout! Garrett played his 1st soccer game today and was done about halfway through the game but he stuck it out. Now they don't officially keep score at this age but my team coparents are I are proud to say we came out on top 9-7. Garrett is still working on scoring his 1st goal. He is one of the youngest players on the team and there are 2 girls that are each a year older that are really good. But we're all about having fun... Addi as usual was along for the ride and keeping things interesting along the way. She had a meltdown at the soccer field as I was carrying her, the soccer ball, snacks, chairs, and dragging the ice chest for the team about 1/2 mile across a tall grassy field to the farthest field which is where the littlest guys play, go figure?? I actually set her down so I wouldn't drop her when I passed out as I was a little overdressed due to the fact that it had been cloudy and cool all morning but the sun decided to come out just in time for our high noon game and make it unpleasantly warm. Such was the highlight of my Saturday unless you count cleaning the shower which is yet to come tonight.

We have been enjoying the cooler weather these past few days and it is really starting to feel like fall. School is in full swing with spelling tests, bookorders, show and tell, homework, fundraisers, etc. Oh to be the parent of preschoolers again! Each stage is exhausting just with a different set of struggles. I think it was actually easier just enduring the sleepless nights and diapers. I don't have any pics this week as my camera is in Colorado with Mark. I haven't let him take my good digital camera in the past but he begged this time as it takes much better pics than dispoables so I agreed with the understanding that if anything happened to it I could get a new one. The travelers will be making their way home sometime tomorrow just in time to start another busy week. I will be leaving for my trip to California with my sister on Thursday so everyone can pray for my children and my hubby. They will do fine, I have no doubt, as we have both grandmothers lined up for shifts starting the night before I leave until the night I come home. Who knows, maybe they'll still get a small taste of life without mom and realize what goes on behind the scenes...