Trying to thrive

Solo parenting is a reality in my life.  Drew travels for work; he always has and he probably always will.  It's hard on all of us because Drew misses a lot and he has to count on quality time with the family versus quantity.  Of course it's hard on me because I miss my husband, plain and simple.  Plus, with two kids it sure is nice to have an extra set of hands.  However, this is how my husband provides for us and I'm beyond grateful that he has and is giving us the life we live.  We are immeasurably blessed and I constantly remind myself of that when I start to get whiny about how hard things are.

However, I find that I end up just trying to get through the minutes when he's gone.  I'm just trying to make it until the next time one or both of them is asleep and last night, something clicked inside me - what if I didn't operate in survival mode?  What if I tried to get ahead of the tide?  What would that feel like?  Yeah, with him gone so much it's all me, all the time more than I'd prefer, but that's just the way it is.  We don't have family nearby so it's all on me to hold down the fort and it's high time I got better at it.  

So I'm trying it.  This week I'm going to thrive instead of survive without my husband here.  I'm going to do my best not to plop Sofia in front of the TV so much.  I've made my peace with the fact that I have to use TV sometimes (like now so I can write) but it's going to be more last-resort than first-response.  I'm going to actually do all those toddler activities I've pinned.  We're going to pull out the toys and we're going to use them.  

And we'll see how frazzled - or not?  Maybe? - I am by the end of the week.

Night one:  Playing in moonsand.  I found it on Pinterest and Sofia loves it because she loves anything messy.  It's 8 cups of flour to one cup of baby oil.  Mix it up and put it in a bin.  It's super soft and clumps really well for making sand castles.  I put a big blanket on the floor, gave her some measuring cups and let her go to town.  I put Andrea in the little bouncy chair and we all sat on the kitchen floor and got messy.  Of course Sofia got *in* the tub and starting rubbing the flour all over herself and mushing her face in it - we're going to call this a 'sensory experience.'  It sounds much more intelligent and purposeful than 'messy as hell.'  i'm going to look for homemade bathtub paints next.    

But hey, it's a win because she wasn't crying, not watching TV and we were spending time together!  That's the kind of stuff I'm shooting for this week and I really want to see if I can get there. 

My hope is to be able to blog every morning about the night before, so we'll see how well I can hold up!

Wish me luck!