Single Parenting

It is no secret that I am the alpha parent around these parts. I spend by far way more time with the girls than the hub does, which is fine since someone needs to make some money. I spend a lot more time as a single parent than most at home moms do because of Tim's crappy work schedule. He is often gone before they wake up, and most nights doesn't come home until just before bedtime or well after, which means I perform my minstrel show all damn day long. I also travel with my kids alone which is fun (I'm not going to wait around for hub to sack up and ask for time off- the ladies and I have places to go!), but also causes trouble between Tim and I ( I hate hate hate that he gets multiple days and nights alone in our house and I struggle to get a few minutes).
For the most part I am down with this set up. However, there are times when this is kind of annoying....

.....like this morning when it took about 45 minutes for him to air up the bike tires before we left for the farmers market this morning. Seriously,the ladies I could have been there and on my way home in the amount of time it took for him to get ready to leave.

........like when I am gone for an entire day and I come home and the house is a complete sty. What the fuck. When I am alone all day with the kids I can manage to get dishes into the sink (at least off the table) and seem to be able to get the toys off the floor and also do my "job" of keeping our household running. I'm not a superhero, I don't have more hours in my day than he gets- what's the deal? I am also able to entertain the children for up to 12 consecutive hours without turning on the TV- go me.

.....like when he spends most of the weekend yelling at the girls. Not really berating them yelling at them, but more barking at them for being kids. I am all for well behaved children, and I am the first to admit that telling someone to get their shoes on 114 times is way annoying, but the amount of barking that goes on is painful to listen to. I used to joke around and call him Bella Kyroli, but it is kind of not funny anymore. What sucks is that I have 2 choices on how to handle this- I can say something which then results in a "fine then I won't parent at all", or I can say nothing and allow him to make himself an ogre in his kids' eyes. I know that this is the only way he knows how to parent, and I am trying to show him other ways to do things, but he is kind of stubborn and believes his way is working just fine.

......like when he 'checks out' and does nothing but follow me around and wait for direction.

......like when he spends 3 hours washing the car when the lawn needs to be mowed, the kids tended to, or the house cleaned (all part of my job description).

Now I know being a true single parent would be rough, but there are Sunday nights, after long weekends of togetherness when I wonder......


P.S. How excited are we that Michael Phelps not only won all his gold medals, but that he also got a good PR person who gave him something to say other than "I am at a loss for words" to say in interviews (not the lame ones with that woman who pulls them aside just after they have won or lost, but the legitimate ones with Bob Costas, who seriously needs to chill out on the Grecian Formula)