Whinging. Again.
So M has gone to Toronto for two weeks, to teach a seminar and earn heaps of money (which we plan to use to fund a spring trip to Australia). I've hardly ever been on my own with Charlie before, apart from a spell during the first weeks of his life (due to the deportation saga). And it's just not easy. I've said before and I say again, my admiration for single parents and military spouses knows no bounds.
We're three days into the separation and Charlie's not being particularly difficult, although he does miss his dad a lot. He is clingier than usual, which is understandable. And he won't talk to M on the phone, which is interesting because normally he loves to say hello to his dad on the phone. Tonight I held the phone to his ear; M said, "I love you, Charlie" and Charlie shouted, "I DON'T luz you!" Tonight he also had a short crying episode in bed and insisted on getting out of bed and going downstairs in order to see for himself whether M was there in his usual position on the sofa. Strangely, this calmed him down. ("Oh, I see. Daddy not here.")
What's really getting me down is trying to shop for food and cook meals and keep the house reasonably tidy and get Charlie to and from nursery and do my teaching prep and teach, without all the help I normally get from M on the domestic and childcare fronts. Tonight I got home with Charlie and he was clinging to me and the house was a mess and the mere thought of trying to make something for dinner made me feel infinitely weary. I ended up reheating daal and Charlie refused to eat any because it was "mummy daal" as opposed to "Charlie daal" (which comes from the local Indian restaurant and is indeed delicious - it also probably contains about 500 times more salt and butter than my version). Many games and stories and protests and potty accidents later, he finally falls asleep and I come downstairs to squalor, whereas normally M would have the washing up done by the time I get Charlie down. And now I have to decide whether to attack aforesaid squalor or do teaching prep, despite a strong preference to do neither, and have a hot bath followed by early bed.
This is a very boring post. However, I must remind myself to be more appreciative of M when he gets back.
Oh god 10 more days how will I cope?
We're three days into the separation and Charlie's not being particularly difficult, although he does miss his dad a lot. He is clingier than usual, which is understandable. And he won't talk to M on the phone, which is interesting because normally he loves to say hello to his dad on the phone. Tonight I held the phone to his ear; M said, "I love you, Charlie" and Charlie shouted, "I DON'T luz you!" Tonight he also had a short crying episode in bed and insisted on getting out of bed and going downstairs in order to see for himself whether M was there in his usual position on the sofa. Strangely, this calmed him down. ("Oh, I see. Daddy not here.")
What's really getting me down is trying to shop for food and cook meals and keep the house reasonably tidy and get Charlie to and from nursery and do my teaching prep and teach, without all the help I normally get from M on the domestic and childcare fronts. Tonight I got home with Charlie and he was clinging to me and the house was a mess and the mere thought of trying to make something for dinner made me feel infinitely weary. I ended up reheating daal and Charlie refused to eat any because it was "mummy daal" as opposed to "Charlie daal" (which comes from the local Indian restaurant and is indeed delicious - it also probably contains about 500 times more salt and butter than my version). Many games and stories and protests and potty accidents later, he finally falls asleep and I come downstairs to squalor, whereas normally M would have the washing up done by the time I get Charlie down. And now I have to decide whether to attack aforesaid squalor or do teaching prep, despite a strong preference to do neither, and have a hot bath followed by early bed.
This is a very boring post. However, I must remind myself to be more appreciative of M when he gets back.
Oh god 10 more days how will I cope?