Help! How do single parents do it?

[Ronaldo]

Make no mistake, I love my kids more than anything.

My wife just changed careers and is starting to work evenings and weekends in the health care industry (don't get me started on THAT one).

Normally, we'd swith off nights with the kids or have a "family night", so rarely if ever, would one of us watch our kids for more than a 3 night stretch.

For the long weekend however, my wife worked the whole thing, so I had to entertain our 4 year old (just turned yesterday) daughter and 5 year old son.

Thursday was uneventful, but the kids were well behaved.

Friday, we went to Pizza Hut, Dairy Queen and rented a couple of DVD's to watch over the weekend. Fun night, no complaints.

Saturday, we went to the park, got slurpees and watched the DVD's we rented. Pretty much no complaints again. They were pretty well behaved.

Sunday, all hell broke loose. I was tired, and the weather was shitty, so I wanted to chill out and relax. Directing the kids to amuse themselves and play with one another did little for them or my patience. Pretty much the whole day was spent sending them to their rooms. Shitty day for me, but worse, I'm sure a shitty day for them.

Yesterday, was a little better. It was my daughter's birthday, so we got some quality time out of that and I got down and played with them more than I had on Sunday. But, basically my patience was still gone and I was exhausted. I literally couldn't wait for my wife to get home, so I could get the hell outta there.

All of this was being done, mind you, after either a full day of work on Thursday and Friday or 3 hours of work at home BEFORE they got up and out of bed.

Seeing as my wife LOVES her new career, this is apparently going to be the new routine. So, I'm curious as to how single parents handle this constant pressure to giving your children your undivided attention without blowing a gasket. And how do you find the energy? Any suggestions?

[SexyScribe]

Hi Ronaldo, sorry to hear you had such a long long weekend..

Have the kids started to read yet?
You might try reading to them, or reading with them. Once they start to develop their reading skills, take them to the bookstore and let them pick out their own books, and books you can read together.

My local library has a kids' story hour every weekend, which the kids love (ages 3-5) and the parents love just as much! hehe

SexyScribe

[Ronaldo]

Originally posted by SexyScribe
Hi Ronaldo, sorry to hear you had such a long long weekend..

Have the kids started to read yet?
You might try reading to them, or reading with them. Once they start to develop their reading skills, take them to the bookstore and let them pick out their own books, and books you can read together.

My local library has a kids' story hour every weekend, which the kids love (ages 3-5) and the parents love just as much! hehe

SexyScribe

Thanks for the reply SexyScribe.

My only problem with that one is after a long day with them already, having them clamour all over you to the point where you can't move is a little annoying.

We used to take them every couple of weeks to get new books, but have kind of slacked off on that one. We do make a point out of reading them stories each night before bed.

Good suggestion. Thank you. We'll have to start doing that one again.

[sweetums]

Ronaldo...

No matter what the munchkins are going to have WAY more energy then you Great suggestion by SexyScribe, as well. This would be a good time for you to start relying or working on buidling a network of support.

Try calling up a friend who's got kids (or even better...doesn't! more hands...heheh) and set up a play date for the little ones. That way they're more apt to occupy themselves and you can get some adult time in to balance your day a bit.

'Nother suggestion -- you might want to find an activity you guys can do on the weekend together -- like swimming, a martial art, basically anything that's gonna expend their energy so that by the time you get home they're both ready to zone out and you might get a bit of quiet time

Good luck with the new routine...soon enough they'll be pretty darn autonomous, wanting to hang out with their friends, and you might find yourself missing this a bit