The weekend with no mommy – chapter 2

The weekend with no mommy – Chapter 2 – Reinforcements

Based on day 1, I had no reason to think today would be any harder. What a silly little thought that was. Today wasn’t a bad day, necessarily, but it was a struggle from the time I woke until now, the time just before I plan to go to bed.

Let me start at the beginning. It was 4am. Yes that’s right, not a typo, but 4am. That was the time that my son decided he wasn’t tired anymore. I awoke to him fussing in his crib. I went in, rocked him back to sleep but at that point it was too late for me. I couldn’t fall back asleep. I spent the next hour or so trying to bust through some work and e-mails while I waited for the inevitable cry “daddy, I’m hungry, take me out of my crib…now”.

my son makes going to get coffee look like the coolest adventure of all time. You would think he was riding a chopper and not a stroller – bad ass

He didn’t disappoint. A shade before 6 the boy was up and ready to have breakfast. We spent the morning playing together. I have to say he is happiest first thing in the morning and it is a treat to spend it with him. We danced around the house to 90’s punk music, ate junk food for breakfast (well, I did, he watched jealously) and then took a walk to Coffee Express to grab a much-needed iced coffee (Extra Large – not sure if they do any other size).

After that he decided it was time for a nap so I put him down. Then I had what I will call the “golden hour”. It was the 1 hour I would have today, to do all the things I needed to do: laundry, dishes, vacuuming, work, shower, pay attention to the dogs, respond to e-mails, take out the trash and recycling, etc. Needless to say 1 hour is not enough time.

Today was different from yesterday. Because the Folk Fest is in town I had to work. That meant I needed help. I had to call in for reinforcements. Today the grandparents came up to help.

Today my mother and father watched my son so I could go into the office for a few hours and get some work done. Still my brain was never really on work. I kept running back and forth just to make sure everything was ok. I stopped in later afternoon to make sure my son was eating, sleeping and happy. Sure enough, he was. I was parking cars this evening for a BDN charity then quickly ran home. Once there, I saw my son was very tired and overwhelmed from his big day. I took charge of the situation. I fed, bathed, changed and put to bed my son. Poor guy was done in, and I think the realization that his mother is gone finally sank in this afternoon. He was noticeably more irritable and difficult today than yesterday. I fear that tomorrow may in fact be worse.

But I can’t think too much on that now. I’m only 50% of the way there. I still have two more days of “the weekend with no mommy” and if he wakes up at 4 again I’m looking at about 3 hours of sleep. I have started to rub my eyes the way he does when he is fussy and I expect that I will begin to scream uncontrollably as he does soon without any sleep.

So for now just know that we have made if half way and will press on to get through the weekend. I have to work a bit tomorrow but again will get help from the grandmother so it shouldn’t be too bad of day. Hopefully my son shares in this optimism. Fingers crossed.

Pat Lemieux

About Pat Lemieux

Pat has it all, family, big old house, dogs, a young son and a quarter-life crisis. He blogs about trying to be who he has always been and be who he now needs to be. He enjoys 90's grunge metal, tasty local brews and the outdoors.