Gametes In Love

Let me tell you about G’s day the other day. We were up in his room, where I let him roam around. It’s his room, filled with baby items (with few exceptions). In the span of 30 minutes my monkey:

1) pulled and ate on the power cord to the fan in his room. When that was taken away he protested and then moved on to pull (and eat) the power cord to his swing

2) dug up a bottle of  lactation support supplements that I’d forgotten about (they tasted horrible, and I put them on the bottom shelf of my glider table, where they were consequently forgotten). Said  bottle was discovered entering G’s mouth and then promptly taken away (post-haste esp. since it didn’t have a childproof cap)

3) found the batteries of the disconnected TiVo remote control and also decided to put them in his mouth.

Notice an eating trend here?

So yeah, electrical cords, meds and batteries: it’s as if someone had identified all the bad things in his room, given him a list and said “Go for it kid! Let’s give mommy a heart attack!”. No breaks in between for fluffy toys, or child-approved rattles. No. All the things that make me look like an awful parent.

So guess what S and I are going this week-end? Childproofing like mad, running behind a 2 foot-tall trouble-maker and using the word “No!” a lot.

Childproofing tips are welcome.

As of yesterday afternoon my temporary reign as a single parent is over. Since S had to attend a conference in Florida for a few days, G and I were on our own. I will admit that although manageable, being alone with your kiddo isn’t easy, and most of all, it was lonely.

I didn’t realize how much I appreciated knowing that S would be home at the end of the day, until Monday after work, while driving home I realized there would be no-one (well, other than Neko) waiting there for me. It made me feel sad.

Then there were all the logistics of G care: morning/evening routines, baths, food and playtime. It’s tiring. My key to survival was being very regimented and having a plan of attack for everything that related to Neko and G. Who gets what and when was scheduled, in my head, every morning. I also learned that I couldn’t procrastinate as much as I’d like because stuff piles up; and if I can manage to do something ahead of schedule (like prep the bottles for the following day) I should — it only helped the unforeseeable stuff.

I’d say I did pretty well and I’m proud of myself: G’s good, Neko still has all his limbs and the house didn’t look any worse for wear while S was away. I will be the first to admit it, though, that it doesn’t look any better 🙂 Cleaning was not on my to-do list. I have no idea how single parents manage to do it all: clean house, install carseats, all with a little monkey looking to make trouble.

There was one victim of S’ four days away: my eating. I can’t say I made the healthiest of choices. I did have a night or two of decent eating, but I also broke out the Mac & Cheese and frozen pizza.  It’s not a great excuse, but it all came down to being tired: I just didn’t have the energy or motivation to spend an hour cooking a meal for myself.

I also had to figure out different ways of doing things. Giving G a bath for example. S and I always do this together. I like our “together” routine. Alone is certainly doable, but it’s the little things: like scrubbing baby butt. I lift G, and S soaps down the goods. When I’m alone, it’s not the same. G sits in his tub, so I’ve had to figure out a way to lean him over my arm so he can present his rear for cleaning.

Yeah, it’s the little things that make you realize a live-in partner is nice. It’s obviously doable alone, but not easy.

So all you single parents, or moms/dads who deal with a spouse who has to travel for extended periods of time — my hat’s off to you. And those of you that do it with no-one close by to help — you’re my heroes!