Being A Married Single Mom

Sharing is caring!

You may have noticed that things have been a little quiet around here lately, and that some post days have gone without a new post. Well that is because big changes have recently occurred in our home. A few weeks ago Jason got a new job! He got a job working security for Ford Motor Company (he actually works for another company that’s contracted with Ford, but that just gets confusing). We are so proud of him, but it has turned out lives upside down a bit.

For the last year Jason has only been working part-time. While that was not good financially it did mean that he was home with Nick a lot. It also meant that when I was home he was often home as well, so I usually had an extra set of hands. He sometimes wouldn’t be home for dinner, but he usually got home while we were still eating, so he was always able to help out at bath time. In fact bath time was always his thing. He’d bath Nick while I ran around getting things done. Then I would take Nick out for his evening walk. When we came in he would always be there to say goodnight.

Now though it’s just me the whole time. Jason got the afternoon shift which means that he leaves just after Nick goes down for his nap and he returns home when I’m crawling into bed. This means a lot more work for me, and some major adjustments as well. Making dinner with Nick can be difficult. On really rough days I had Jason watch Nick while I cooked, or if Jason wasn’t home we would eat something simple (like cereal) for dinner. I can’t handle cereal for dinner five days a week, so I’ve had to get inventive to find things to keep Nick occupied.

After dinner is a bit easier. Nick is full and happy then, so I can get stuff done. He loves playing with the silverware in the dishwasher while I load. Other times he’s just happy to play. In fact on Saturday night he was crawling all over while I picked up. When I was done I found that he had crawled onto the sun porch and was playing with he ExerSaucer. At that point I gave a prayer of thanks that I have a 15 month old that can play and entertain himself. I really hope that doesn’t end.

I make sure to get everything ready for his bath before I get him for it. That really helps make it go smoothly. Of course the evening walk is easy, as is story time and putting Nick to bed. Every night we call Daddy to say goodnight, which is helping Nick to understand the phone. By the time Nick is finally in bed though I am exhausted and ready to collapse. Sadly I still have things to do though and I have to be ready to go to Nick if he starts crying (he usually plays for awhile and then cries when he’s ready for sleep because he needs to be settled down again).

Jason’s first week of work I was a crazy woman because I felt I needed to spend all of the time Nick was sleeping getting my cleaning done since I had so little time to do stuff. I have since realized that while I do need to make good use of my time I also can’t work myself to death. I still need to make sure that I’m getting enough sleep.

I bow to all of you ladies, and gentlemen, that must parent often without your spouse around (or that don’t have a spouse or partner to help). It is quite a different reality when there isn’t a second set of hands to help out. Things are still a little shaky for us right now, but we’re settling into a routine. Hopefully things settle into a new normal very soon.