Thursday Thirteen #26 - Flying Solo

Welcome to my 26th edition of Thursday Thirteen. This week is dedicated to what it's like when my dh is out of town for "work." I call it flying solo. It's much like being a single mom for a limited time. I'm not a fan at all and here are 13 reasons why.

1.) I can't sleep. My body doesn't shut down like it is suppose to and I become very sleep deprived.

2.) There is no relief from the children. I love my kids but every parent needs some time during the day or evening to regroup.

3.) I worry that he makes it to his destination ok.

4.) I worry that he makes it home ok.

5.) I get sick every single time. Currently I'm dealing with pain in my right ear and the right side of my mouth and lovely bloody sinus issues. I feel terrible.

6.) Trying to get everything done around the house is just a joke. I'm chasing a little person while being a taxi and everything else.

7.) I actually ran out of milk because I had so many other things to do I couldn't get to the grocery store.

8.) I can't get any work done except for nap time. There's nothing like trying to keep up with a business within the span of 2 hours.

9.) There isn't any back up of discipline for the children.

10.) There isn't any adult conversation in the house.

11.) We have to limit our communication because of the time change of being in another country whether it is Dubai or Scotland or England. The phone lines seem to drop when we do try to talk on the phone. We have a hard time reaching each other.

12.) There is always a financial mess that happens in his absence. This time it was shelling out nearly a thousand dollars for an old medical bill for our eldest. Of course we could have taken care of this 8 months ago had she bothered to open the mail that was sent to her when she had her own apartment. We could have avoided the collection calls and bills from the attorney's office.

13.) When he does return we still have a few extra days of waiting for him to get his clock adjusted. This makes for a very grumpy, testy man who isn't ready to jump in and take over.

I haven't had a vacation in about 7 years. I haven't traveled with my family in about 2 years. He has never had all the kids for even a full 24 hour period. But hey, it's all in the name of putting food on the table. Flying solo isn't always what it is cracked up to be.