Thoughts on single parenting

Well, my primary thought on single parenting is I don't know how they do it! Jim went out of town this past weekend to photograph a show in Asheville and it was just me, Katie and Ricarda. It was a wild weekend.

Heather and I postponed our weekly Friday afternoon get together with the kids so I could get some work done before I had Katie over the weekend. I knew I wasn't going to get anything done during the weekend! We met Saturday morning to let the kids play and then went to lunch. For a change, lunch went pretty well. We couldn't decide whether it went better because we're getting smarter as moms taking our kids out in public, or that the kids might actually be getting a little more mature. I vote for smart moms. :)

When I returned home and got Katie in bed (late, nearly 1:45), Ricarda told me that she needed to be in Raleigh in 30 minutes! I'm definitely the mom of a teenager. :)

When she got back from the State Fair later that evening, we watched the 5 hour version of Pride and Prejudice. (Awesome movie, BTW.) I have found a kindred spirit in movie watching in Ricarda. We watched Pride and Prejudice spread out over two or three nights and then watched all three Anne of Green Gables movies. We had a blast and stayed up way too late every night. A good time was had by all.

Sunday was pretty crazy too as I took Katie and Ricarda to church and then, after nap, tried to go shopping for several hours with Katie. She was very well behaved but there is a limit of what one can do with a toddler in tow. In short, I got nothing for myself, which I really needed but we got a bunch of other things done. Best of all, I found an amazing sale at JC Penney. Long-sleeved shirts for $4.50! I bought...a lot. Enough to, hopefully get us through the whole winter, possibly with one not stained beyond recognition as all of her summer shirts are now. Too bad the pants didn't fit her, otherwise I would have purchased a bunch of those too.

Jim didn't come home until late Sunday night so, after three trying hours of shopping, I fed the kids and put Katie to bed. I felt like I had things mostly under control but I was exhausted!

More to tell tomorrow about this week and our trip to the State Fair today!