Hats off to single moms & dads

I commend all single parents out there! My wife is in Seattle this week, and I have been on a solo parenting challenge with my 3 and 5 year old since Monday.

Luckily everything has worked like Swiss timing, but holy crap it's a mountain of work, not to mention the level of organization, and logisitical management required to pull it off.
I just wanted to recognize any of you out there doing it full time. Keep up the good work.

I too would like to tip my hat to single parents. My fiance is a full time student, part time mental health tech, and in the Army Reserves, so i spend a lot of time playing "super dad" to our 1.5 year old.

We ffound out not too long ago that she is going to have to go to Iraq next april for a year, so I am going to be a single dad for quite a while. Plus all the training whe has to go to before hand, it is going to be a really trying year and a half.


Cheers

wop31 said:

We ffound out not too long ago that she is going to have to go to Iraq next april for a year, so I am going to be a single dad for quite a while. Plus all the training whe has to go to before hand, it is going to be a really trying year and a half.

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I go crazy trying to get all the yard work done and take care of the baby when the wife works weekends. I cant imagine being a single parent, and those of you that are have a good deal of my respect.

Wop, thats tough man. Tell your wife that I thank her for her service.

I'm a single dad, but only 3-4 days a week. I wouldn't trade my guys for anything, but I tell ya by day 4, I'm ready for a breather. Full time would be a whooooole other world.

IMO, it actually gets more confortable full time. I've got 4 kids (1 full time with SWMBO and 3 that I share custody of with my ex), and I've found that when I have all 4 of them for weekends it does seem like a nice break when 3 of them go back to their mom's.

But in the summer when I have all 4 of them for full weeks at a time (I take vacation from work - SWMBO doesn't) it actually gets easier after a couple of days. It's getting into patterns and everyone getting used to the way that Daddy does things.

Most single parents *are* pretty amazing people though... except my ex, she is the spawn of satan.

Well I made thru this week. My wifey returns Tuesday. The girls are going to have a sleep over at their surrogate aunite's house tonight. I'm going to get my ju-ju on and brew up a a decoction concotion.
Like I mentioned before it was a mountain of work, but well wortht he effort! Kids rule!

Hey, a night without a wife OR the kidlings! Nice!

The longest I've had to do the single-dad thing was three days, I think (wifey was at a conference that ran a day longer that she thought... she can be a bit of a space cadet). First day's always the toughest, then it's all into routine. I couldn't imagine being able to brew with a little one and no help, though.

My one boy wears me out after a few days. And try to juggle getting him to and from daycare on time, walk the dog, clean the house, make sure everyone's fed...

I don't know how it's done without an amazing support system in place.

I'll say this about kids though: I never really wanted to have kids, I never wanted to be a dad. I never thought I'd be ready. My wife was the one who really wanted kids, so I went along with her. Man am I glad I did. My son amazes me every day. The amount of love he has for us - and we have for him - is amazing.

The best parenting lines I've ever heard were from Turk on Scrubs:

"Having a kid is like having a dog that eventually learns how to talk."

"After having a kid, you look down at your hand and see poop on your thumb and you'll just wipe it off on your pant leg."

It's that first time your kid walks up to you and unaided gives you a kiss and says "Love you daddy." That's what makes it all worthwhile. Until he then does the same thing to the dog, the remote control, the door... That's my little boy! He LOOOOVES lamp.

That's so true, Cheese.

I didn't really know if I would be ready to be a dad or not, but it's been phe-feckin'-nominal. I *loved* it last night, I got my BarleyCrusher, I was putting it together, and she was reaching into the sack of rauchmalt (without my asking her) so that we could crush some. She HAD to turn the handcrank, too! Then, she sat down and ate rauchmalt out of a bowl, with a spoon, and all I could think was - that's my girl!

My wife takes 1 or 2 trips a year out of the country for her job, for a week at a time and I get to play with our munchkin non-stop. I definitely love it, it's wonderful...but there is something to be said about bedtime for her when I can finally wind down.

Kids are like brewing. They're both great, but if I had to mess with either one ALL DAY LONG, I think it would drive me nuts.

Kids make 9:30pm drinks taste wonderful.
Kids let you get notalgic watching Sesame Street
Kids give you a chance to play with cool toys.
Kids let you know that the best part of a day is walking in the front door and being greeted with a running hug.
Kids let you know your parents weren't complete a-holes afterall.
Kids let you know you're capable of incredible things.
Kids let you know there is a purpose and meaning to life.
Kids let you appreciate simple things, like a moment to unwind while they take a nap.
Kids give you a reason to be up at 6am on a Saturday.
Kids give you a reason to be home at 5:30 on a Tuesday.
Kids let you know you're not a big an f-up as you thought

My mom raised me and my brother by herself after the divorce. Dad was nearby, but it was only an every-other-weekend thing.

Now that I have two kids of my own, I understand and can appreciate how much she gave up for us and how hard she worked.

For a while she had two jobs. In the day she worked for the State gov't, and at night she waitressed at a pizza joint. I remember waking her up at 4pm on a Saturday one time so that she could get ready for work. She was so exhausted.

This year, we are all going to MI for two weeks over Christmas and she couldn't be happier.

Cheesefood said:

Kids make 9:30pm drinks taste wonderful.
Kids let you get notalgic watching Sesame Street
Kids give you a chance to play with cool toys.
Kids let you know that the best part of a day is walking in the front door and being greeted with a running hug.
Kids let you know your parents weren't complete a-holes afterall.
Kids let you know you're capable of incredible things.
Kids let you know there is a purpose and meaning to life.
Kids let you appreciate simple things, like a moment to unwind while they take a nap.
Kids give you a reason to be up at 6am on a Saturday.
Kids give you a reason to be home at 5:30 on a Tuesday.
Kids let you know you're not a big an f-up as you thought

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Well said Cheese, well said. I whole heartedly agree on everyone of those, I hate having to work overtime, because when i get home I have littel more than an hour or two till Cameron goes to bed and we don't get to hang out as much.

We weren't planning on having kids for a while, then Cameron came along and i would change that for anything. But we'll see how I feel after a couple of months of the fiance being gone. Wish me luck.

Cheers

I have a different prespective of single parenting. I raised my daughter as a single Mom and I look at it like this


when I divorced my husband, I went from two children down to one. It was a lot easier.

Yes,

A big hats off to all single parents. Anytime my wife or I are left alone with the kids, the in-laws are always over lending a helping hand. I can't imagine going it alone.

Wifey and I raised three girls. Two got married and one was a junior in high school when one day the wife wasn't feeling well. ended up taking her into urgent care and thats when we found out she was a little preggers.

So at the age of 50, I became a dad all over again.

The wife is a stay at home mom, and she babysits two other kids. On occaision she'll go out with friends or goes up to tacoma to visit the oldest daughter. I get to stay home with the baby (now 2 yrs old). I last about 6 hours before going stark raving mad. How the hell did I do this before when 2 girls were in diapers at the same time?

A LOT of respect for my wife, and anybody else that raise young kids on thier own

I fully support single moms.




But seriously, being a single parent is one of the most thankless jobs ever. My mom raised three boys all by herself after dad left. Can you imagine three of ME running around? My poor mother...

I'm going to have to get used to being a single dad from now on, and I'm actually looking forward to it. At least I'll get to see my babies. Well, my babies are 10 and 12, but still, they're my babies.