Saturday, June 13, 2009

Single Parenting Stinks

I can't wait for Andy to get back. This single parenting gig is for the birds!!

I dearly love my children, but I am physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted.

I'm just tired of never having a minute to myself.
Never having Andy to defer to in decision-making. Having to be the only disciplinarian.
Not being able to go to bed early or sleep in or take a nap when I need it.
Not being able to run errands without 5 little ones tagging along.
Having to deal with all of the homeowner stuff. Fixing pipes and garbage disposals and bike chains and doing yard work. Not my thing.

It's funny, because we're on a break, yet I feel like I have even less time and I'm even more tired than I was during the school year.

Maybe it's just the past 9 months crashing down on me all at once. I'm sleep-deprived and grumpy. Tori has started constantly making a noise that could shatter glass. :)

I'm hoping that camp and Vacation Bible School this week give me a nice little break (from a few of the kids at least).

I have to remind myself that we're almost at the end of this deployment. I made it through the freezing cold winter alone. He'll be home soon (relatively speaking) and then "normal life" can resume.

I just need to be very careful not to dump everything on him when he gets back, especially since he's probably even more tired than I am (if that's possible!)

And now I'm going to try to get them all to bed...

3 comments:

Christina said...

Goodness, I can't imagine how mentally difficult it would be. Just hang in there and find a positive, like, Andy deploying at this point in his career means he probably won't have time to get deployed again. That means 3 more months for the rest of your life!

Sarah at SmallWorld said...

Honestly, I think you are amazing. My dh is gone for just a little over 2 weeks, and every time I start to feel sorry for myself, I think: "Good grief! It's only 2 weeks!" I instantly think about YOU, in Alaska with 5 kids and a husband deployed. And I think about my friend with 4 little kids whose dh died of cancer in the fall. And I feel ashamed to even entertain thoughts of being tired and burdened. You are an inspiration!

Tracy said...

Bless your heart. On top of your five kids, the sun in Alaska must be up all night long this time of year. Hopefully you’ll get some sleep when your husband returns safely. In the mean time, if you want your older kids to do something effective while they’re out of your hair, try a company I work with called http://www.dreambox.com/. DreamBox Learning focus on engaging math games and resources for kids kindergarten – 2nd grade, and can make for some great activities to lower your stress levels at home. Hopefully this helps over the summer.