Well, the three of us survived Bryan’s seven nights away, and the girls have survived our nearly two weeks of one or the other parent being gone. Phew! In reality, my time with the girls was really not that bad. The hardest day for sure was the first day, coming straight off my time away, Brooke waking up ultra-early, being that it was a very rainy day and that we tried to sign up for the gymnastics free play only to find out that we were waitlisted for it upon arrival. But we made the most of the day by “playing” some arcade games at the neighboring Full Tilt, then driving and getting pizza and groceries at Amazon Fresh before getting bingsu (which is like Korean shaved ice) thanks to a Yelp Elite perk that we all loved before heading back home.
The rest of the week was more or less the usual with school and work making up the bulk of our days. While a parent is gone we have the now tradition of the girls coming into bed to watch a movie in our room and after a time the parent goes to put Brooke down while Reese should be falling asleep to said movie. 50% of the time Reese has fallen asleep where she gets to remain as while one parent is gone we let Reese sleep in our bed. This time around I was smart and had both girls brush teeth and then we read books in bed before starting movie so we still covered all of our basics.
Speaking of basics, I do very little (meaning none) cooking while Bryan is away. On Monday night we used one of my birthday rewards to get dinner at Cutter’s Crabhouse after a quick visit to the library to get new books. The girls greatly enjoyed their kids meals, particularly the fries, apple juice, and the miniature ice cream sundaes that they both got. I did have one table that congratulated me on how well behaved they were?!? Tuesday and Wednesday were just nights at home. We did hit the playground before dark on Tuesday but otherwise played at home and honestly can’t remember what was for dinner but I’m guessing it was chicken nuggets or leftover pizza.
On Thursday, my friend Polly came over to keep us company and brought us more pizza! It was great getting to catch up with her but the girls were in rambunctious mode, one they often get into with visitors to the house. They were cute though and it was just nice having another adult around. Friday I let Reese have her friend Clara ride the bus home with her so I picked up Brooke ahead of their arrival and then we met them at their bus stop to walk them home. They got over four hours in of play, dinner at our house, and ended with a movie and ice cream cones before Clara’s parents came to pick her up. I apparently was most exhausted this night, probably from the week leading up to it, but this was the one night that I managed to fall asleep while laying down with Reese. I woke up at 11:30 pm in my clothes in bed with her completely disoriented.
Our last full day without Dada was Saturday and it was actually a beautiful day out. We had gymnastics that morning after I made the girls waffles and then Sarah and Lottie came over to play at the house and have lunch with us afterwards. The girls played well together, thank goodness, and I did my best to keep them entertained. It was also the first meal I made all week really that wasn’t just heating up leftovers so I greatly enjoyed the chicken tortilla soup and salad we had. My girls were apparently so tired on this night that they were both asleep by 8 pm! Brooke had had only a 10 minute nap in the car earlier so it made sense and it was a nice treat to have an extended night to myself, especially after not having one at all the night prior.
Sunday morning meant Bryan’s return home and we were all ready for it. The girls wanted to color him cards and also “dressed up” for him and we got in the car to go get him from the airport around 9 am. It was so great to see him and have him back. He’s been fighting jet lag since getting home but I think he’ll be good in another day. And I have started adding all of the holiday events and Brooke’s birthday festivities to our calendar as we gear up for the last busy month of the year. No more solo trips for us this year. Just our travels to New York await us. And I finally did get to take the girls to the indoor gymnastics free play yesterday and they had a lot of fun and were able to burn off some energy.
Really for me it was nice having my FIRST full normal week at home since the exam. I was able to catch up on laundry, finish reading a book, tackle some items on my To-Do list, we kept up with our Thankful Turkeys and the girls and I made stained glass out of pressed leaves. I even got to Reese’s school for what I hope to be a near weekly volunteer session for Wednesday’s Wacky Math. I got to help her teacher set up and run their stations, Reese was thrilled to have me there, I got to meet more of her classmates and know them by name, got to see some of my soccer girlies, and helped some kids finish artwork for the upcoming parent teacher conferences. I don’t know how teachers do it since my energy felt completely zapped after only 90 minutes but I’m thankful for them and glad I could help out and be more involved.
Feeling good and grateful as we enter this week.
Chelsea
