Lessons of being a temporary single mom

When my husband told me he was taking time off from work to drive 10 hours south to the great forests of southern Colorado for 5 days, my heart sank. Really, 5 days? He couldn't possibly want to sleep in a tent and have no shower for that long? I have never been away from him for more than 3 days in the 8 years we have been together. Add 2 kids, a house, a dog and a full time job into the mix . .I was picturing my slow demise in those 5 days.

Wait it gets worse . . .Javy abruptly changed his mind and decided he would be gone 7 days in the dark, cold woods. That was it. Those 7 days would get the best of me. Javy would absolutely be coming home to a completely mentally unstable wife. Here are the lessons I learned while being a single mom for 1 week.

• My patience is thin to begin with. I ONLY have patience for my kids in this life . .nothing else. HOWEVER, all changes if you put me alone in a house with 2 kids, I now have NO patience at all.
• Javy is much better at playing super heroes than me. He really gets into it, speaking with all sorts of cool voices, and really playing into these crazy story lines with Xavier. I find myself just holding Spiderman in place while telling Hulk to be nice. Xavier doesn't particularly like this. He repeatedly asks me when daddy is coming home. What am I? Chopped liver?
• I cook MUCH better with Javy around- every night is gourmet. When Javy is gone I cook the polar opposite of gourmet: Mac and cheese, quesadillas, ham sandwiches, left over pizza, frozen pizza, or corn dogs. This goes back to patience. I have no patience to cook a legit meal with 2 kids pulling on my legs

• Being alone at night is absolutely terrifying. I had many sleepiness nights due to the following thoughts: could that sound on Charlotte's monitor be an alien invasion? Did I lock all the doors? Is that car blaring the music driving by stopping by my house to break in? Is that the AC or someone knocking on my door? Where's the gun? I need a beer. Could someone be under my bed? Is Javy ok? I'm hungry. Aliens? . . .none of these thoughts are exaggerated
• When Javy is here I cook, I clean, I do baths and normally I put both kids to bed. When he is not here doing all these tasks is suddenly EXHAUSTING. By the end of the night a beer is no longer a want, it is a need. It sure is nice just passing Charlotte off to Javy so I can spend the extra minute getting the layers of dirt off of Xavier's knees. I can barely keep my eyes open past 8pm. I need to be on the lookout for a possible alien invasion, so I force myself to stay up.
• My lawn is a HOT MESS without a husband. I will never mow the lawn . . ever . .ever. I basically have a jungle in my front yard. The HOA loves us.

• The trash can sure can hold a lot of trash. I keep pushing the current trash down further and further, there really is no more room for anymore of my trash. Javy is gonna kill me when he sees it. However, I really don't like taking out the trash. Taking out the trash is a mans job.
• I am extremely lonely. I have no one to talk to about my days crazy events (As a community manager of an apartment community, you get some crazy daily events) I have no one to call on my ride to work to tell silly stories about the kids to. I have no one to call 15 times throughout the day to tell about the new lipstick I got, or the great find I got at TJ Maxx. I have no one to talk me through what superhero is better to buy Xavier "Silver Samurai, or Rhino." 

I want to give all of you a single moms out there a hand! I gotta give it to you, being alone, taking care of kids and yourself is not easy work. I commend you for doing it, you are a stronger woman than I could ever be. 

 I have realized that Javy and I really do make a great team. He makes me a better mom, I couldn't do this whole mommy thing to the best of my ability without his support.

The morale of the story? He can never leave again. Next time I really will go nuts.