Mama Drama Mondays: Oh Look, Lemonade!

Since the middle of April, my husband has taken two business trips; he's currently on his second in Israel. The first trip was for two weeks in Shanghai and the Israel one is for 10 days. He'll finally get home tomorrow. That's almost a whole month with just me and the chicklets. Drama doesn't even cover half of it.

I usually get comments of how I now know what a single parent must feel like, which is partly true, however, most single parents have to work to support their families and are unable to stay at home with the kids. So essentially, I've been on duty, at my job, 24/7 for a month. No breaks. Yeah, I don't envy me either. I wish I had an outside job just to get away from my kids for a few hours. The adult interaction alone would have been lovely.

For the past month, we've pretty much been shut-ins. I had all kinds of plans of taking the girls out places like the zoo and the park, but for the most part, the weather has been so inconsistent, planning has been a nightmare. Plus, the small outings so far, with the three of us, have been less than smooth. My patience has gone the way of the Dodo bird.

I did, however, start a treasure box. When the girls were good, I would put a surprise in the box for them to open each day. There was a movie/popcorn night, manicures/makeup, dollar craft projects from Jo-Anns, bubbles, coloring books and game night, to name a few. They started to look forward to it and would request "surprises." I loved watching the looks on their faces as they opened the box to find a new treasure each time. Always an enthusiastic, "Wow, look at that!" It's been going so well that I think I'm going to keep it around and turn it into a Mommy & Me Time box. It seems like most of the items are things that I need to do with them.

So a new tradition has been born out of what would have otherwise been the month from Hell. With how hectic things get, sometimes I forget to just stop and spend a few moments with the kids. I want them to spend quality time with me so the box will help us all remember to do it. Besides, what mom doesn't need to take a moment for a manicure or blowing bubbles? Good times. :o)

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