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Posted by
Christopher Spicer
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Emily will be home a few hours after midnight. This means that I've
already completed all the "single parent nights" and now I just have
a few hours of the day as a single parent. I am happy to announce that it
was about a hundred times less stressful and hair pulling crazy than I assumed
it would be. This is a good thing, because I like my life having minimal
stress and I really don't have much more hair to pull out. I'd consider
the experiment a success, and would actually not be too afraid to tackle solo
parenting for another few days in the future. Though, it isn't something
I want to be a regular occurrence, and would be more inclined to something a
little less than five days.
The parenting experience went fine, but I also know there was a lot that I didn't do. I mainly concentrated on baby, dog, and my writing work. Even in the case of baby, it was all about making sure he was fed, happy, and loved. I didn't try to bathe him, because I don't have faith in my solo bathing skills, and I don't think Everett is ready for a foray into deep seas diving. Our tub isn't really designed for one person to bathe the baby, or at least, not when that one parent is me (both my wife and sister-in-law have done it solo). Though putrid odours aren't emanating from my son, and I did make sure he wore clean clothes, and I did keep his face, hands and bum clean. I did a decent job of succeeding at the bare minimum of parenting. Since for the most part I was doing it entirely alone, I am happy with my job.
Again, this reminds me how amazing single parents are. I totally have a new respect for them. They are warriors and saints. I think it is absolutely amazing that single parents are able to raise excellent children. It is outstanding work. They have my utmost respect. I have a dream baby, but I know I probably couldn't have done much more than five days. Even then, I had grandma come for a visit one night, and had Everett go play at grandma's house yesterday. I probably would have been a wreck today if I didn't have a small break yesterday. So yeah, my mom rocks too. I am sure many single parents really appreciate their family and friends -- or at least, I hope many of them have some kind of support.
Things went really well. Everett slept through the night on 3 of the 4 nights, which are three nights more than I expected. Even when he woke up in the morning, he usually went back down for 2.5 more hours after being fed. He was a bit more hit or miss with the napping, but this is also a concept that we're only starting to turn into a regular thing. We had got into the habit of allowing him to sleep on our shoulders during the day, but now want to start getting him to associate his bed with where all sleeping is done. He did end up napping well on Wednesday, and surprisingly, he is napping super well today. I thought after 5 days of Christopher brand parenting, he would be a mess, but he is actually probably at his most content and happiest today. Part of that is probably due to the fact I am no longer trying to ration food, and so he is always eating as much as he wants now. We totally underestimated the amount of breast milk he needed. I ended up getting a pack of formula yesterday, and so we've gone crazy with the feedings since. Even the miscalculation never ended up being a catastrophe, and Everett seemed to always get enough food. So, it seems like the single parent experiment was a major success.
Like I said, I am not begging to try this for five days again anytime soon. A lot of that has to do with the fact I am one sucky husband, and I prefer being close to my wife. Five days is a long time to be away from my love. I am now counting down the hours until she is back. Of course, it will also be nice to have her around to help with Everett again. It really is just her company I am looking forward to the most.
I've survived. Or at least, I am several hours away from surviving. Unless there is an alien invasion or we're attacked by a pack of wolves, it looks like I will remain healthy and alive once these five days are up. That is always a rather grand thing.
How has your weekend been?
The parenting experience went fine, but I also know there was a lot that I didn't do. I mainly concentrated on baby, dog, and my writing work. Even in the case of baby, it was all about making sure he was fed, happy, and loved. I didn't try to bathe him, because I don't have faith in my solo bathing skills, and I don't think Everett is ready for a foray into deep seas diving. Our tub isn't really designed for one person to bathe the baby, or at least, not when that one parent is me (both my wife and sister-in-law have done it solo). Though putrid odours aren't emanating from my son, and I did make sure he wore clean clothes, and I did keep his face, hands and bum clean. I did a decent job of succeeding at the bare minimum of parenting. Since for the most part I was doing it entirely alone, I am happy with my job.
Again, this reminds me how amazing single parents are. I totally have a new respect for them. They are warriors and saints. I think it is absolutely amazing that single parents are able to raise excellent children. It is outstanding work. They have my utmost respect. I have a dream baby, but I know I probably couldn't have done much more than five days. Even then, I had grandma come for a visit one night, and had Everett go play at grandma's house yesterday. I probably would have been a wreck today if I didn't have a small break yesterday. So yeah, my mom rocks too. I am sure many single parents really appreciate their family and friends -- or at least, I hope many of them have some kind of support.
Things went really well. Everett slept through the night on 3 of the 4 nights, which are three nights more than I expected. Even when he woke up in the morning, he usually went back down for 2.5 more hours after being fed. He was a bit more hit or miss with the napping, but this is also a concept that we're only starting to turn into a regular thing. We had got into the habit of allowing him to sleep on our shoulders during the day, but now want to start getting him to associate his bed with where all sleeping is done. He did end up napping well on Wednesday, and surprisingly, he is napping super well today. I thought after 5 days of Christopher brand parenting, he would be a mess, but he is actually probably at his most content and happiest today. Part of that is probably due to the fact I am no longer trying to ration food, and so he is always eating as much as he wants now. We totally underestimated the amount of breast milk he needed. I ended up getting a pack of formula yesterday, and so we've gone crazy with the feedings since. Even the miscalculation never ended up being a catastrophe, and Everett seemed to always get enough food. So, it seems like the single parent experiment was a major success.
Like I said, I am not begging to try this for five days again anytime soon. A lot of that has to do with the fact I am one sucky husband, and I prefer being close to my wife. Five days is a long time to be away from my love. I am now counting down the hours until she is back. Of course, it will also be nice to have her around to help with Everett again. It really is just her company I am looking forward to the most.
I've survived. Or at least, I am several hours away from surviving. Unless there is an alien invasion or we're attacked by a pack of wolves, it looks like I will remain healthy and alive once these five days are up. That is always a rather grand thing.
How has your weekend been?
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I am a writer, so I write. When I am not writing, I will eat candy, drink beer, and destroy small villages.
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