As I sit here desperately craving some adult company, I decided I ought to publicly acknowledge my even greater appreciation for SAHMs, which has grown over the past two days of one-on-one time with Braden. Don’t get me wrong — I have enjoyed the time I’ve spent with son, and always wish there was more of it. (I’m saying this with utmost sincerity; not just because I’m “supposed to.”) It’s just that my days with Braden are usually peppered with visits from my sister, time with Doug, and play dates. Tonight, I am exhausted. Not sleepy exhausted, but Transformers-Ben-Ten-Hot-Wheels-monsters-wrestling-”Mom, watch this” exhausted. And I don’t know how the SAHMs do it all week, every week. Seriously, my hat’s off to you.
Right now, “we” are watching “The Santa Clause.” It’s eerie that I’m writing about this while a story of a divorced parent’s relationship with his son is unfolding on the screen.
I have one more day to go, alone with my boy. So far, we’ve played games, put together puzzles, prepared meals, made big toy messes, cleaned them up, gone for a bike walk, run some errands, gone to see a movie [side note: don't see Planet 51 unless on well-earned special request of a child], had pizza night and read books. Tomorrow, we will do birthday thank you cards (I’m behind), draw pictures, and put out Christmas decorations. Brady has been such a good boy. And even still, I would just like a grown up to visit with or a kid for him to play with.
Just a minute ago – I kid you not – Braden said, “Mom, why do you have me for such a long time?” Perhaps he is exhausted, too.
Other related posts on MLI:
The Parental Paradigm – My Place as Single Mom
From the Other Side – #3. Not Choosing a Primary Residence in Joint Custody Arrangment
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Well my hats off to you being a single mom
I am a SAHM mom and married and I don’t know how single mom’s do it! I think we suprise ourselves with what life throws at us, hu? Your little boy is cute. I enjoyed reading your blog.
P.S. We just finished watching The Santa Clause 3. I love those movies
Mandi, thanks for coming by to read my blog.
So true, about what life throws at us. At your comment about your hat being off to me, I paused for a second. It doesn’t often occur to us how much our experiences differ from other moms until we have a reason to consider it (like this weekend, for me). Being a single mom is pretty much all I’ve known, so it doesn’t seem like any big deal most of the time. I mean, it certainly does define how I live my life (as one can read in this blog), but it doesn’t seem heroic or anything. It just is. Staying home all week every week with children – that seems heroic to me!
I clicked through to your blog briefly, and look forward to reading it. I noticed immediately that our sons look like they could be brothers!