Monday, December 10, 2012

Parenting Solo

This past weekend was my first solo night with Hunter since he was born.  In close to a year neither myself nor Kristian had spent a night away from him since bringing him home. The main reasons for this are that to be honest, I'm not ready to spend a night away from him (especially since I still nurse him first thing in the morning) and I haven't really wanted Kristian to spend the night away either. The fact is I don't sleep well in general when he's not home, every little sound freaks me out and now with Hunter it's just harder to do everything on my own.

Well after telling him no over and over I finally gave in when he asked if he could go on a last minute hunting/camping trip with his buddy and his buddy's son. He planned to leave Friday morning and come back late Saturday night. I figured I've handled getting Hunter from daycare, giving him dinner and putting him to bed on my own many times as well as spending all day Saturdays with him alone while Kristian is off hunting so this shouldn't be too hard. Plus Hunter has been sleeping through the night for months. Easy Peasy.

But of course my child decides when daddy is away he is going to turn into devil child and drive his mother UP THE WALL. Basically he said "easy peasy my ass". He decided rather than sleeping through the night he was going to wake up THREE times (he hasn't done that in months) and then wake up for good at 6:30am. Normally I can nurse him back to sleep for at least another hour on weekend mornings.

He also normally takes great naps on the weekend; 1-2 hours in the morning and another hour in the afternoon. Again, he said "naps? what's a nap?" I desperately tried to put him down for a nap in the morning only to have him break into screaming fits. He finally took a nap around noon for a whole 30 minutes. Oh and did I mention he was being a total fuss monster the whole morning? Because he was.

After lunch I decided we both needed a break and took him to the happiest place on Earth. Target! He did great at Target. He loves to just sit and people watch so that was a blessing and I took advantage of a little (read $150) retail therapy. He finally fell asleep in the car on the way home and I carried him in his carseat inside where he continued to sleep for an hour. I actually got to sit down, eat and read a magazine. It was bliss. After his nap he was finally in better spirits and the rest of the night was fine but when Kristian came home I was not in the greatest mood and just exhausted. Not sure I will be letting him leave overnight again anytime soon.

Of course he slept great Saturday night, took his normal naps and was all around a pleasant kid again on Sunday. I guess he was just upset that daddy was gone. I know the feeling.

7 comments:

Venassa said...

It's like babies just know the perfectly wrong time to get a little wild. I'm glad he's back to himself now though.

Sarah said...

I completely agree about sleeping without the hubs around. It's just so much harder when your body is used to someone else being right there. Glad he was better on Sunday... they sure know when half of the parents are gone!

Stephanie said...

I'm glad you and Hunter both survived. We managed okay here! J was gone Tuesday thru Sunday and all I can say is thank God my Mom came on Friday night. I needed some rest and without her, that would have been impossible. I think we both deserve some wine.

princessapr said...

Aw, rough on both of you.

Rob went away when Laura was 3 months old for his annual boys' trip. I will cave and let her sleep in bed with me, but I've been lucky over the years. That said, I'm betting I jinxed myself for January. *g*

Stephanie said...

Oh man, I'm sorry to hear that you weekend with Hunter didn't go so well. I think kids can sense anxiety, at least I felt that when Chloe was an infant. For some reason she hated Friday evenings, and I had anxiety leading up to those days. I'm glad he's back to his normal happy, sleeping self now that daddy's home though. And I wouldn't blame you for keeping Kristian close for another oh, say...5 years! :)

Unknown said...

I have to agree with Stephanie's point about kids being able to sense anxiety. I'm sure there's no way to prove it, but it just seems to definitely be the case. Sorry to hear you had a rough weekend though!

Fiona said...

Oh no, sorry to hear the weekend without hubby didn't go as easily as hoped!! :( Poor you. I wonder if Hunter knew and was feeling upset because of Daddy being away? Anthony and I have both yet to leave Alidia for a night and I dont look forward to when one of us has to!! :(