A Tale Of A Stressed Single Working Mom
I’m sure some of you wondered where I was last week and I apologize for my unscheduled absence. I was in single working mom hell and I’m not exaggerating.
When my husband informed me he was going to England for twelve days to attend his father’s birthday bash, I was totally fine with it. I was originally going to go, but was unable to attend. Twelve days as a single parent wasn’t a big deal.
Things were okay for the first five days. I set up weekend play dates with Sayle’s buddy Beau and his girlfriend Peyton so he could see his friends and I could get some adult conversation. I was definitely tired from working every day and coming home only to continue on full speed until Sayle was down, but I was managing.
I had to stay sane for this little guy
Monday morning kicked off the worst week I have had in a very long time and the timing couldn’t have been worse. Single mom collided with working mom and it was horrible. My phone rang relentlessly day and night with calls regarding my at-work children. If you’ve ever taught or carried a caseload of children, you know your kids run in cycles. You have periods where all the kids do well, then all of a sudden one will start acting out and before you know it, all your kids have jumped off the deep end. When my kids go, they go big, hence making my days insane. I was having conversations like why it isn’t appropriate to kick teachers with kids during the day and dealing with toddler temper tantrums at night. We also had an audit coming on Friday, which meant I had to chase my children down, conduct meetings, and ensure my records were perfect while staying sane for Sayle since I was the only parent in the country.
The day before the audit, I was informed a record I hadn’t even touched yet was definitely being audited. Panic. I was also assigned a new client who needed to be assessed. Double panic. And I had two meetings that afternoon already scheduled. By 5:30, I wanted to have a melt down but I didn’t have the time. I didn’t get through my records so I needed to get back to work, I couldn’t take Sayle to work with me because I wouldn’t get anything done, and my husband was partying in England.
I am so thankful for good friends. My friend Amber agreed to watch Sayle while I ran back to work for a few hours so I dashed home, handed Sayle two cookies and juice, threw dinner in the over, ran Sayle’s bath, packed his diaper bag, and let the dogs out. Sayle decided this was a good time to toss his cookies in the tub while it was running so when I got back to the bathroom, there were two melted chocolate chip cookies in the water and yes, he did have a bath with cookies that night.
It snowed like it was Alaska here on Saturday so we were stuck inside for most of the weekend and that was fine with me because I was exhausted from lack of sleep and stress. I have never been happier to see my husband than the night he returned.
There have been a few times in my life where I have over estimated my abilities; this definitely being one of them. I have to admit, this has been the most difficult time I’ve had since becoming a mom. I’ve got the working mom thing down to an art, but the working, single mom with a demanding job is a whole different beast.
To all single working moms out there, you have my deepest respects!
