Single Parent Weekend

Over the years since we've been married I've had many (many) great weekends away with my buddies. They have been great escapes, and I find them to be very positive for my overall mental health. And while I've positioned it to Mimi in this manner she hasn't exactly bought it. I've encouraged her to do the same, but she is of a mind that if you need to get away then there's something you need to get away from. And that's bad. So she wouldn't do it.

At least she wouldn't do it when I encouraged her to. But it seems her friends have more pull than I do. So when her girlfriends from college called her and said "Come to Chicago" she took the opportunity. I was very happy for her. But very worried for me. She got to go away and have fun for a weekend, but I'd be on task for watching the kids. Ugh! Now I know how she's felt all these times.

Mimi took off at noon on Friday, timing things perfectly and got into Chicago with no issues. Good for her! For me I came home after work and immediately got a little help. The neighbors called to see if Denis Jr. wanted to go with them to a basketball game. Cool! One down!

We had a quick dinner and then - per spoil weekend guidelines - sat down for a movie. I had watched The Music Man on a recent flight, and thought they'd really like it. I figured Denis wouldn't, so it was perfect. As I expected, Liam and Tara loved it, and Seamus couldn't sit still. But overall a good success. I got them all off to bed and kicked back with a movie of my own to relax.

Saturday morning was an early start. Tara had ballet, and it was visitor's day. So I packed up Tara, Liam and Seamus and headed out. I gave Denis a break and let him stay home. Since he had been out late the previous night he was quite pleased with that! So the 4 of us went to the lesson. I stayed and watched, while Liam and Seamus played (nicely and quietly!) with a toy car in the dressing room. A small one - but another success!

When I got back from ballet I had to head out to do a team race with some friends (see other post). So I got another nice break while Amy came over to watch the kids. I got back early from the race and got cleaned up. Once everyone was settled we spent some time playing DDR. This has been a huge hit in the house. Kids of all ages (up to 42!) have a great time with it. And everyone is getting better, so new scores all the time!

When we got done playing we went out with Mimi's parents for dinner. This took a while as cursed restaurants here don't take reservations. But it was acceptable, and it was a good meal. Even better, we had a ton of leftovers - which I collected and brought home so I could use later. Liam went home with Mimi's parents after dinner, so I only had 3 to deal with again.

Since Denis didn't get a movie on Friday night I got the younger ones into bed and he and I kicked back with a movie. I wanted to give him one slightly more mature, one that he wouldn't be able to watch with the other kids. So we settled on Tomb Raider. Lots of excitement, shooting, etc. But not really a whole bunch of killing. A lot of bad shooting, I guess. In fact, near as I can tell there was only one actual shooting death. So that's not to bad. He naturally wanted something more (and R or better!) but he happily settled on TR. It went very nicely, and he enjoyed the show.

Sunday morning I got up early (for me - they were all awake already). I started breaking eggs to make pancakes. Denis immediately started to complain - "I don't want eggs!" So naturally I continued to tease him on it. Even as I mixed in the batter powder I called it eggs. It wasn't until they hit the griddle that he finally realized what he was getting. And then he was happy!

We ate a nice fat breakfast and went to church. I had to remember to bring snacks for Seamus' class, which I did (I am so proud of myself!) We got him to his class, and we went to church. After mass started I suddenly realized that while we brought the snacks, they were still in the car. Damn! I couldn't leave to get them and leave Liam and Tara by themselves in church. So I took a risk and asked Liam to do it. He pulled it off beautifully! Unlocked and locked the car and got the treats to the right place. Hey! The kids are finally being somewhat productive! Man I've been looking forward to this for a long time.

As we were leaving mass, Denis asked if his friend Eric could come over to play. While this adds another kid to the mix it's actually something that makes life easier by giving them more to do. So I said yes and we brought him with us.

For lunch I took all the leftovers from the previous night and fried them up in a pan and served them again. It was yummy! Even as leftovers nobody complained. I was quite pleased with myself!

The day was beautiful, so we all went outside to play. Eric and Denis playing BBall. Seamus in the mud, and me flying a kite! Got that sucker up 200'. Tara asked to hold the string and how could I say no? Naturally she got bored in a couple minutes and just dropped it. Yikes! I immediately went sprinting across the yard to catch it before it disappeared. I got it just in time, but that was the end of that game for her!

And just like that Mimi was back! She had a great time, and we did too. She's already talking about doing this again, and I'm already much less stressed about the idea!