Long day's jounrey into I hope somebody comes home soon but he's not due home until dinner SAVE ME!

Today is the first day I have been home by myself with the kids in a long time. Holy crap. Kids can be really annoying. And it's raining. Of course it is. And as soon as the rain dries, our sprinklers will come on. So what I am saying is, outside is out for now.

Luckily, except for one kind of shitty day (no offense, kids) where I am on the hook for J and the baby all day and Harry from after school until bedtime (bedtime for 3 kids by myself? Sounds fucking terrible. I have a sitter coming between 1 and 3 days a week to help with bedtime depending on Ben's class schedule, which is kind of erratic), I am really not going to be doing a ton of solo parenting this semester at all. One half day with the baby, the aforementioned long day that's mostly just 2 kids, and a perfectly normal work-hour day with J and the baby and then all 3 for about an hour. BUT there are a few nights throughout the semester (about 16) that Ben has night classes, meaning I will be alone from crabby time until bedtime (hence the sitter).

Can you tell I am dreading it? I think it's because I have NO PATIENCE lately, and I cannot imagine that I will have more when I am totally sleep deprived. Also, we dropped J from 3 full days of preschool to 3 half days because all he does is take a nap in the afternoon, and one of us is home everyday anyway because of the baby. So, less childcare. And AGAIN, Ben's days home have more childcare than mine.

We are going to try to swing this precarious schedule for 4 semesters, until the baby is 2 and can start preschool, although we may be in the market for a 2-part-day-a-week nanny when the baby is 1, which would allow Ben to work more day classes and not teach at night anymore. Also, next year, J can go to 4K through the school district, which is 5 half days. We are committed, though, to being home with the baby sitter-free for a year, even if we have to figure out weird times to get all of our work done.

But really, the point of this post is that I have been dreading today for like a week because I haven't had to deal with the kids by myself for most of the summer thanks to year-round preschool, which is such a good idea! Because let's face it, at home they eat bowls of snacks and hang out with this a lot: (LIKE RIGHT NOW)

They really wanted to bake (from boxes because I am lazy), even though they look kind of crabby in the pictures), but we had finished that by 7:30 am.



Then they played some super heroes

Then as evidenced by the trail of bat costumes, they DRESSED like super heroes (I don't know because all I heard was dulled screaming while I mopped up the baking mess less than half an hour after I mopped up the breakfast mess)

Now they have abandoned super play in favor of other costumes and-- you guessed it-- a bowl of snack because eating at mealtimes is apparently for SUCKERS.



I'll keep you posted-- not because my day is thrilling but because I need virtual support.