Friday, May 21, 2010

Perfectly Exhausting

Wow, am I tired.

Hubby is out of town this week, off on a business trip. He'll be back on Sunday. One work week in which I was the sole parent has exhausted me- and I even had the excellent assistance of my mother all week.  In my defense, I did have a sick baby at the start of the week (Petunia was recovering from an ear infection and high fever), and had done most of the nighttime parenting the week before, since Hubby was recovering from food poisoning.  I also started a new project at work. It is a high profile project that is outside my normal area of responsibility, so it is a bit of a stretch for me. It was a truly unusual week, a confluence of several exhausting things.

Still, it is a glimpse of the life of a single parent, and it has made me very grateful for my husband.  I have also been grateful for Pumpkin and Petunia. Petunia has started every day off with a smile, because she positively bounces with joy when I walk into her room in the morning- even on the days when she was sick. Pumpkin has cheered me up at the end of every work day by singing along to her favorite CD on the way home from day care. I defy anyone to remain stressed or grumpy while a sweet little voice sings "Witch Doctor" from the back seat ("ooh-eeh-ooh-ah-ah, ting-tang, walla walla bing bang"). And to top that, when the CD, a mix I made for her, reaches the song she has decided is my favorite, she demands that I sing, too. So I warble along to "Six Months in a Leaky Boat" and smile, and get home in a great mood, despite the traffic and the crazy day I left behind at work.

I often hear other mothers wonder how single parents do it. On one level, I completely agree. I don't know how they do it. But on another level, I know exactly how they do it- they same way any of us get through our lives. One day at a time, optimizing while we go, sometimes hanging on by the barest of threads, and sometimes thinking that our lives couldn't be any more perfect.

2 comments:

  1. That last line is perfect.

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  2. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. This parenting gig is full of ups and downs. My boy is also literally bouncing with joy when I come in his room in the mornings. I. Lurve. It!

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