A Single Parent Adjustment

Brian is currently working on a project in Aqaba, Jordan. While I do like to imagine my husband as Indiana Jones, camel back, ridding the world of drought and flood; I pray mostly for safe travel, successful endeavours and a QUICK RETURN. This single parent stuff is for the birds!

I am not sure who is having a harder time with Brian's latest work assignment, Eden or I. We miss him terribly.

Sooooo we didn't stick around the house for the constant reminder of his absence. Oh, no. We packed our bags and headed in the direction of family... i.e. help and entertainment. Luckily, my brother, Lance, and his family were vacationing in Salida, Colorado. Perfect timing for us and we scored with their generosity! Once again, Eden was in "cousin heaven" and I even relished in some extra naps and exercise.

Yesterday, we loaded up the car again. This time heading east across the Colorado border. The Ranch welcomed us with open arms, tons of new toys and most importantly, a buffer - my mom. I needed a break from constant parenting and Eden needed a new caregiver, fresh and energetic. I like to think that my mom needed us too, after all, she was all alone on the ranch this week.

I often think that Brian, Eden and I make the perfect tripod. She loves the balance of our two parenting styles and he and I can share in the duties of Eden's daily care. Whenever one of us is missing, the balance shifts. After a long period of time, you can almost see Eden start to walk at an angle (figuratively). I know this is true with other families, but since Eden's care takes some extra energy, I just can't sustain quite as long as I would like.

Take last Wednesday for example, we spent the morning packing up our necessary lives and running errands before heading out of town for a week and a half. Eden most certainly lengthens this process... Her meals take three times as long as an average child (if she eats at all), but since I was rushing around, I didn't push her to eat. Of course, we've got all of her medicines to account for, notify the pharmacies and doctors of our absence and load up on plenty of her special formula. Meanwhile, she conveniently starts unpacking bags, applying make-up on her face (Thanks Tia for teaching her that one!) and pulling out toys that have already been put away. Oh, and don't forget the temper-tantrum that occurs every time I tell her not to do one of these things. After I've had enough, I decide that it would be much better for her to be in the car while I'm loading - at least she's in a confined spot. I successfully get everything and everyone in the car, sit down in the drivers seat and start to back down the driveway.... when I smell the reason she was so calm the last couple of minutes. She pooped! Uhhhhh!!

We finally get on the highway heading west. I am looking forward to a couple of hours with Eden strapped in one place and occupied with her movie. I have my map, my coffee, and my book on tape - all in place. I'm set. I pull the first tape out of the package, push it into the tape slot, and it comes back out. I try again, same thing. I flip it over, nothing... I press rewind, nothing... finally I start to breathe a little deeper and Eden looks up from her movie. "Mommy, that's where my money goes." What?!!! Yep. And that was just the beginning of our trip together....

Here are some pictures of Brian's current adventures: