Sans Papi

We are midweek of Week One Without Daddy..... These are not my favorite weeks.
And may I just preface the rest of this by saying I know two weeks ain't nothin'--I can name at least two families on my block that have done month and year stretches without Dad. I couldn't do it. I am not that strong. However, this post is actually happy, not whiny. Keep reading....

Chad is my Zen. So Mom without Dad can be a little ominous for my trooper children. A nutso mom all day, and no break at night?? A shame. So I told myself to clear my schedule. Just wipe out any ideas of getting projects done, running big errands, etc. Don't get busy, I told myself. Just relax. And it's working like a charm! I know the whole idea of doing nothing freaks many of you out. Quite honestly, it's not my easiest place to be. But it's what I have to do in high-stress situations (like being sans lover all week).

And the week has been lovely! I have been doing nothing but playing with my kids.
Really. Truly. Playing.

Coren and I were monsters, and we chased Risa around the house. We've read Brown Bear, Brown Bear about a hundred million times. We danced together in the kitchen. I saved Coren multiple times from falling off of my bed into the lava lake... and this activity was even Coren's idea! Complete with him dramatically hanging over the bed frame, reaching for me, crying, "Mommy! No! Mommy!" Excellent! I chased him with the hose, and then he chased Risa (which wasn't as big a hit). We've marched, hopped, and crab-walked across the living room dozens of times. We've had countless tickle fests with Risa being the hapless victim (which was a hit). Risa has been showing off her mad dance skills and breaking down into her (happy) psycho alter-ego.... which neither Coren nor I have witnessed before; and it cracks us up! Collectively. Coren keeps looking from Risa to me, saying through chuckles, "Risa funny!"

I am enjoying--deeply, deeply enjoying my children this week--down to my bone marrow. They are spectacular! They are stupendous! They are melodramatic... but in good ways too! They are thoroughly lovely people.

I love this person.

And I love this person.



















And despite the stressful end of the day, when I'm trying to get them into bed, and Risa is screaming her head off, and Coren is ignoring every sentence that comes out of my mouth (literally), it has been--overall--one of those weeks that encourages me; that assures me that, yes, in bits and pieces and days and weeks and months, I am learning to be a mother... and not just a woman with children. Which is a big difference. And I am, in fact, making the switch. One playful (sometimes dad-less) day at a time.