how we cope

This week has been going pretty smooth, considering we are down one - an important one at that - dad.  Over the past few days I have been trying to stick to a few guidelines...likely things that I should stick to all the time but feel the importance of leaning on even more while aaron is away.

1. Stick to our rhythm - while is is slightly disconnected here and there due to work/school/daycare - we still actually do have a rhythm in our home.  When the isabelle and owen know what to expect life is much easier.

2. Mornings: Send them outside - this has been actually an exciting new addition.  It is just warm enough (-5...?!) to send the kids out the door in the morning prior to leaving.  The excitement of 15 minutes of outdoor play seems to do wonders - they rush to get dressed and brush teeth...isabelle has even been helping owen get his snow gear on.  score.

3. Don't go rogue on meals - This week we stuck to things I knew my kids would eat.  There was one minor hiccup - owen literally threw his bowl of lentil soup off the tray (adele at least was pleased with this)....otherwise every night we have all sat down and actually ate all our dinners.  

4. Serving dinner as it comes - By the time we get home, on the days that we work, it is nearly 6:00 PM.  When there are two of us we usually split the saga - one of us entertains while the other cooks.  This is something I obviously just can't do...so I start slinging food as it comes.   This is something I normally don't do because I like us all to be sitting together and eat our full dinner together...but honestly...we still do sit together...it just might mean half our dinner was eaten party style. 

 5. Enlist help - From anywhere possible, this week it has been mostly from the kids.  Isabelle is on dog and cat feeding duty and owen helps me clean up after dinner (honestly discovering that a wet cloth will keep owen preoccupied for 30 minutes has been a miracle).  We also have a mother's helper who will be coming over tomorrow...she is wonderful and will give me a break to clean my house and   maybe accompany us shopping.

6. Dance parties - As soon as we get home I make sure to put on music - it always inevitably lightens any of our cranky moods and after dinner clean up is just the right time to dance out any frustrations.

6. Knitting and a sweet -  Knitting helps me relax and after the kids are tucked away and dreaming of sweet things I am on the couch knitting up a storm.  And while a glass of wine would be great company to this right now...chocolate...in any form seems to fit the bill.

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so with that..we are 5 days down and 3 more to go until daddy comes home again

Tuesday can't come quick enough.