Solo Weekend

While Heather’s been on a real vacation in San Francisco, I’ve been holding down the fort at HQ. It hasn’t been too difficult, but Leta definitely is starting to play us against one another. Whenever I’d tell her no or that we were not going to do what she wanted (which is frequently), she’d start in with “But I need my mom.”

Sure you do kid, but guess what, if mom were here, SHE’D AGREE WITH ME. Which I actually said a few times, but in a nicer way, then in a meaner way and finally I would just move on and we’d have the meltdown, etc.

For the most part, Leta did very well over the weekend, as did Coco. However, the first night without Heather was a doozy. I’ve completely forgotten what having a puppy in the house means. Here’s the timeline of the first night:

7:30 pm: Leta goes to bed with little ceremony, but she is asking for her mom pretty much constantly. We don’t normally stay in bed with her, but I do for a few minutes (she wasn’t asleep) and then we did the bedtime drill and she was fine.

3:00 am: Coco whining in her crate. I shush her. She only whines in the middle of the night if she really needs to go. I shush her again and wait to see if she’ll go back to sleep.

3:03 am: Coco needs to go out. I wait a full minute after she stops whining before I open the crate and we rush outside. On our way, Coco is whining so loudly, Chuck appears from his public access all night goth show Barkula’s Vault to make sure everything is okay. Coco does both kinds of business transactions. It takes awhile for her to poop because she’s a two-stager. First stage drops immediately, but second stage drops take much longer to work out. I’m trying to have good energy about taking a puppy out at 3 in the morning, but deep down, I’m not doing so well. I took her out three times (30 minute intervals) before going to bed last night and she only peed once. No poop. Finally second stage drops.

3:20 am: Coco goes back in the crate and I go back to bed.

4:30 am: I fall back asleep (finally).

6:36 am: Coco is whining again. I shush her. She doesn’t stop and we do the 3 am drill again. Massive dump. What is this dog eating? Neighborhood kids?

7:08 am: Leta is awake.

I really didn’t get a moment of quiet or calm until 13 hours later and found that if I kept moving, I was able to maintain control pretty well. Managing the kid and the puppy is a delicate dance of when to direct, when to leave alone, when to assist, when to discipline and when to comfort. I don’t know how people do it alone, I really don’t. Here’s to all the single parents out there; you are amazing.

I can’t wait for Heather to return. Can’t. Wait.

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  • http://www.hollysthisandthat.wordpress.com Holly

    Hey, you did it and that’s awesome! I am newly separated and I have a 1 year old and 6 year old. I watch 3 other kids during the day too.… let’s just say my blog, my email and my internet are very needed! It’s hard, but it becomes a part of life. I love my kids to pieces, but there are challenges every day. We all face them, but as you can see yourself, we all triumph.

  • http://www.semanticallydriven.com jen

    Like Becky above I’m a sole parent of a nearly 7 year old and I also don’t know any other way. A good sleep routine has helped me through, that, alcohol and earplugs. I do exaggerate slightly. I too am off for a girlie weekend this weekend and bloody hell I need it. I’m being put off the puppy idea though. I think our next dog will be a 2 year old like my current dog was when I got her.

  • lisa

    um…hang on. hang on.
    single parents? it appears to me that this is how HEATHER has it. if she were there, she would be the one handling leta & the dog, no? why is everyone giving you “kudos” for simply doing your job? does Heather get congratulations every day for going through the normal routine? i just find this weird. and i’m not just talking about heather. in every relationship i know where a couple has kids, the woman takes care of the crying at night, meals, getting the kid dressed, etc. etc. while the guy does his thing. when she isn’t there and the guy has to do NORMAL every day things…all hell breaks loose. i sympathize with you having a rough time of it because you aren’t used to it, but i certainly don’t think “great job” and “congrats” are in order. good grief. reason #9,547 why i have no desire to have children.

  • http://blurbomat.com blurb

    @lisa, I agree with you. Just doing it isn’t worthy of kudos.

    My point in posting this wasn’t to say that I’m a hero for doing this. It was to say that puppies are harder to live with than I remember.

    Your assumption about gender roles is laughable.

  • lisa

    you didn’t imply that you were a hero in your post, your post was cute. it was everyone’s reaction that i found to be a bit crazy.

    i am not making assumptions. i’m telling you what it is like in the many relationships around me when the “guy” steps into the “mom” role for a few hours even, let alone a weekend. that includes the dads who appear to go the extra mile and are considered very modern, very hands on kinds of dads. they still get kudos when they do anything outside of those gender roles that you feel i’m making assumptions about. this is real life…not pc world. we are far from having balanced roles in the household however much progress women may have made. until the cell phones of my girlfriends stop ringing the minute they step out of the house and leave the kids with dad…and until men stop using the word “babysit” when they are left home with the kids, i’ll remain unimpressed :)

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