Friday, February 23, 2007

Flying Solo

Steve left at the crack of dawn yesterday for a graphic novel conference in New York, so the Cub and I are flying solo. He'll be back either late tonight or sometime tomorrow, depending on how things go.

When Jack was littler-- and when I was a newer mother-- the prospect of taking care of him by myself for a couple of days would be really daunting. How in the name of Yoda was I going to get ready for work in the morning? Could I possibly get him dressed and myself and get coffee and make it out the door in a reasonable period of time? How was I going to make dinner?

Things are so much easier now. For one thing, Jack is a lot more self-sufficient. He doesn't need to be held constantly. I can just hand him a milk instead of feeding him a bottle. But I also feel more confident than I used to. Steve had been worried that the antibiotics Jack is on would give him diaper rash and that I'd have to deal with it by myself. I shrugged that off -- nothing I can't handle.

In fact, Jack and I are enjoying our Mommy-Son time. Last night, I cooked dinner. It says a lot about Jack's sadly limited menu in the past that I am so pleased that he declared the macaroni and cheese I made to be, "Yummy. No is yucky. Is yummy." I gave him a bath (something I definitely would not have done by myself in the past), we played, and the little man gave me a total love wave when it was time for us to hang out and watch TV. I asked if he wanted Elmo or Dora, and he requested, "Kermit movie." That's my boy!

I told him last night that we are getting pizza for dinner. He must have thought about it all night. He woke up this morning, and said, "Hi, Mommy. Jack all clean! Mommy y Jack eat pizza!" I just want to give him a million kisses.

2 comments:

Heidi said...

Well, two things:
1) You'll have a blast!
2) You have my sympathy.

I work Monday-Thursday, and Shane works his out-of-the-house job Friday through Sunday, so every weekend I feel like a single mom. It's wonderful and exhausting and overwhelming. I really love having the one-on-one time.

Anonymous said...

I remember being really worried to be by myself but when Chance was just two months old, my husband had to go on a business trip. Chance also got his first cold at the same time! After basically holding a congested infant through two full nights (I had to sleep propped up with him in my arms the whole time)... I was sleep deprived but my anxiety definitely diminished!