In just a few hours, I'll begin the second Operation Single Parent of the year. Sometimes Andy has to travel out of town and that leaves me on my own to manage Huffman Farms. This time he'll be gone Sunday through Friday. I've learned A LOT the last few times he's left me about what helps make Operation Single Parent a win. Here's my checklist for this time around:
1. Lower my expectations for myself-CHECK! Last time he went out of town I had these grand plans of using my "extra" time to accomplish some long overdue tasks. WHAT WAS I THINKING?? My cousin, Jane, gently and quite humorously emailed me to tell me I was being way too ambitious. She was right! Like she predicted, my kids slept at opposite times and at night when they were both asleep, I was exhausted. So this time my goals are simple: Spend time with the Lord everyday, shower, and take care of my kids. That's it. If I can do those things each day, it will be a huge success in my book. I decided that I'm OK with the fact that there might be some days that all three of my goals don't happen. Lower standards = possibly less personal hygiene, no major accomplishments around my house, but some serious freedom for my soul.
2. Figure out a way to provide 3 meals a day without actually having to cook them-CHECK! With no freezer pizzas and Carry Out Subway, providing meals is especially hard as a single mom. (a shout out to my mom who kept us well fed for all those years!) I depend heavily on Andy to watch the kids while I get breakfast on the table and work to prepare dinner. So, I have muffins in the freezer and yogurt in the fridge to pull out for breakfast each day. I have Xiao Li lined up to do some cooking for lunch. For dinners, we have some meals in the freezer, Laura is cooking for us once and I plan to do one crock pot meal.
3. Make sure I have enough coffee to last me the whole week-CHECK! Last time Andy went out of town I ran out of regular coffee. Ouch. Thankfully Laura came to my rescue. Good coffee is about a 45 minute drive from my house. So Alisa, who happens to live beside the coffee shop, did an emergency run for me yesterday and brought the coffee to me this morning. I owe you sister.
4. Line up a few fun diversions for the week- CHECK ! We plan to go into the city one day and hang out with some friends, EG has a playdate with Lydia, and two Chinese girls will keep her for a couple hours on Friday. We have some fun lined up that should help us stay sane throughout the week!
5. Recruit my blog readers to pray for me! CHECK! Here's how you can pray:
For safety for Andy and a good time for him. For the discipline to get up early to spend time with the Lord and to shower! For kindness, patience, and gentleness to rule in my heart as I interact with my kids each day. For a joyful heart to serve Andy and our family by being a single parent this week!! Thank you!!!
I'll let you know how it's going!!!
5 comments:
I'll pray for you! Wade hasn't been out of town that long before, but it sure can get hectic and it's easy to lose patience. It seems like you have a great list of tips for this round of single parenting and I'll be looking forward to hearing how to goes!:)
PARTEE TIME!! Have fun with those kiddies, you guys are going to be fine. I have faith in you! As far as me keeping you fed during those single parent days.... I would not wanted to have checked the nutrition level of what I fed you. :)
Love you guys and miss you!
Mom
I'll be praying for you, friend! Have a great week!
Sound like an adventure for you all! We actually had some of our great times when Tim was gone(even though we really missed him). We had camping on the family room floor with movie or game time -- snuggling and snacks. Pull out the Elmo video and let the fun begin!!
we eat lots of cereal, hotdogs and mac & cheese when Ben is gone. i can live on instant oatmeal and popcorn!
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