Dear Journal: They Have Me Surrounded — I Don’t Know How Much Longer I Can Hold Out
Kerri is out of town for 5 days so it’s just me and the kids. Just like the last time Kerri left town, all of the major appliances and gadgets in the house are broken. I’m handling it all much better this time but I must admit that I’ve tried staring at the dishes and laundry again in hopes that they’d clean themselves; predictably, they’ve not budged.
I’ve had it pretty easy because Kerri stocked the cupboards and fridge before she left. But I’ve also been sick since the morning she left and that’s where I started really empathizing with the true “single parent”. No matter what, the kids need to be fed, bathed, entertained, taught, disciplined, etc., regardless of how bad you might feel.
The kids miss their mom so I’ve been trying to keep them in high spirits with some special little activities. For example, we pulled out the sleeper part of our sofa and had a pseudo sleepover for the last two nights. Basically we all share the bed and flip through TV channels when we ought to have been in our own beds and fast asleep. We’ve been dragging out all of the extra sheets and blankets to make a fort covering the entire family room.
The house has transformed from a typical family home into something closer to my old bachelor pad. I’d let it continue but we don’t have enough pots/pans for me to ignore the problem much longer. I could squeak out a few more days by BBQing but we’ve had constant rain so it’s not feasible — And yes, I did have brief thoughts of just putting all of the dishes outside for a “natural” cleaning but I ultimately decided against it because it would involve too much travel time.
I suppose I should wrap this up; I just checked on Abs and Ben who are coloring inside and they’ve switched from drawing on paper to body art, with Ben’s face and arms full of pink and yellow marker. It appears I’ll be giving baths earlier than expected today.
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