Single Mom

Recently, Roger went on a nine-day business trip to India, putting me through a nine-day test of mommy endurance. The good news - I passed! The bad news - my hair has gone grey. Just kidding. But I definitely spot a new wrinkle that I will forever refer to as the Indian crevice. Still, I learned a lot, and before I forget those lessons, I wanted to document them here.

1. There's no shame in asking for help - well, maybe a little bit, but there's more shame in checking yourself into the looney bin, so you do what you have to. It takes a village after all. (And my wonderful girlfriends make for the best village of all.)

2. Just as raising twins probably isn't twice as hard as raising a singleton, taking care of those twins on your own is not actually twice as hard as taking care of them with a partner. It's hard either way. Even when that partner is extremely helpful.

3. If I lived without Roger, I would rarely watch TV. I would, however, spend far more time staring blankly at a computer screen accomplishing nothing.

4. Children can eat peanut butter sandwiches for dinner several nights in a single week without showing signs of malnourishment. (Same is true for a 32 year-old woman.)

5. I can change a tire! (With a little help from one of those amazing girlfriends.)

6. When I finally got around to turning on the TV, I realized that I can in fact figure out how to work the remote control if yelling for Roger to fix it is not an option.

7. A large glass of wine at the end of a long day is wonderful in theory, but you have to be able to stay awake to drink it.

8. Not much escapes children. Overheard numerous times in the back seat: "Daddy go on trip. Mommy sad." Very cute, but a little embarrassing when one of the teachers at the daycare called mid-week to check on me.

9. "Mommy miss Daddy? Anna miss Daddy too" are quite possibly the sweetest words ever spoken.

10. I have the most helpful, supportive, and loving husband a woman could ask for. He makes my life better in a gazillion ways and the fact that he occasionally tells me to have a glass of wine while he bathes our children is just one of them. And you know what? After nine days on my own - I think I'll take him up on that offer more often.