weekend report: flying solo

June 13, 2016

I didn’t mention it in my last post, but I was solo this weekend – Josh went up to Seattle to visit an close college friend whose wife was recently in a serious car accident. I 100% supported his trip, but admittedly felt trepidatious about the prospect of tackling Friday night – Monday morning alone, particularly since C’s recent bedtime antics have been challenging.

Guess what?

It was great.

There were definitely some Not Great moments mixed in there — yesterday we hit the playground in the morning, as I had a master plan to allow them to get some physical energy out before a mall trip. But it was hot, and apparently all of the energy got expended at the park, making for one frustrating trip home. Both of them had their bikes and neither wanted to ride them. There was yelling. It was not my proudest parenting moment.

But really, other than that (relatively minor) debacle, it went really well. There is something to be said for being entirely, unambiguously in charge. And I think both kids really had fun! Annabel said it was her “favorite weekend ever” (though to be fair, she may be prone to hyperbole).

Bedtime even went better than expected. I put Cameron to bed later (~8:15 pm instead of ~7:45), and did let him protest for about 7 minutes on Friday. There was no crying Saturday or Sunday nights. And I indulged Annabel by letting her sleep in my bed, since Josh was away. I told her it was a Special Treat, and that there was only room because daddy was away. It worked marvelously. I did not have any alone time in the evenings, but didn’t really care.

I am actually really proud of how this weekend went. I was relaxed (a glass of red wine w/ dinner as I ate with the kids each night may have helped!), and really enjoyed the time. We did a lot, including:

– watched Finding Nemo (Cameron too! We will see how he does in the theaters with the sequel!)
– Miami Children’s Museum — we are now members — it’s really close and this way I can feel good about going for an hour
– playtime with grandparents (they came over for a while on Saturday afternoon — my only adult interaction for the weekend)
– pizza for dinner (their fave)
– mall trip for A’s ear piercing (!!!) & Father’s Day shopping
– ice cream (gelato, actually) @ the mall
– a 2 hr nap for BOTH KIDS (which never ever happens — Annabel really hasn’t napped for months — but they fell asleep in the car and both transferred and it was glorious)
– trip to the library (both have already read their 3 books. We may have to go weekly)

PIX

classic Cameron face climbing a museum statue

(I think he thought he was doing something devious here)

Ear piercing series:

Note — I never thought I would get A’s ears pierced at 4. I assumed she’d be 8 or so, like I was. HOWEVER in Miami, earrings on young girls are everywhere — even babies. Including on her close friends at school! So I suppose this probably motivated her to ask, and then she just kept mentioning it every time she noticed my earrings. I warned her that it would hurt (compared it to a shot at the doctor’s office), but she persisted. I couldn’t think of a good reason why not, and so off we went to the local Claire’s.

I think she did get a little nervous right before.

They did both ears at once! The technician assured me she had done “hundreds” before.

She had a slightly stunned look for about 2 seconds . . . and then burst into this smile of pure happiness and pride:

Showing them off:

I did cut C’s naps at ~4 pm each day. Thankfully he took it well (sometimes a premature wakeup leaves him in a dysphoric toddler-zombie-like-state).

Post-library

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WORKOUT REPORT

M – ran 4 mi, average 9:26/mi, 84 degrees F

T – barre3 Total Body Rev (30 minutes)

W – rest day

R – ran 5 mi, average 10:05/mi, 79 degrees F

F – ran 4 mi, average 9:18/mi, 77 degrees F

S – Flybarre 45 minute class (I had a babysitter so I could go to this!)

S – ran 4 mi on treadmill, 9:45/mi

Miles = 17 mi / Barre = 2

Josh: 4 runs and 2 gym sessions! (Need to confirm the gym sessions but I know there was at least one in there)

Sarah Hart-Unger

mother of 3 // MD // south floridian // ESFJ // upholder. into: planners, great food, running, reading, writing, mornings, podcasting, and coffee.

14 Comments

Reply Yoing March 10, 2019 at 7:10 pm

Regarding the ear piercing- I have been told that it common in Latin cultures to get babies’ears pierced early, and seeing how there is a strong Latin culture in S. Florida, that might be why you are seeing so many very young ones with pierced ears. My MIL is Latin (and also lives in S. Florida), and she has been bugging me since my daughter was a newborn about when I was going to get her ears pierced. I keep telling her, when my daughter is old enough and asks for it herself!

Reply beth March 10, 2019 at 7:10 pm

Congrats on an awesome solo weekend!!

I fly solo every weeknight and have since my kids were born (almost 7 years ago!). And being unambiguously in charge in the evening works for me. Although I am used to that I still really am not a fan of the solo weekend. They happen multiple times a year but I never really look forward to them. My husband is actually gone to be gone this weekend Thursday- Sunday night so I am flying solo. Perhaps this is just the reminder that I need to reassure me that it can be great.

Reply Ana March 10, 2019 at 7:10 pm

sounds like a great weekend! Good job! A looks adorable & so proud of herself! i love the tiny earrings. Sigh, if I’d had a girl….
Agree the ear piercing may be a cultural thing. Mine were pierced before I was one, its just what was done, so my mom had mine done the first time she took me to India. Where I trained there was a large population of immigrants from Mexico, and many of our patients’ mothers were surprised we didn’t do piercing in our clinic (I guess some peds who served that population did that, as a service, for a small fee).

Reply Sam March 10, 2019 at 7:10 pm

congrats! i am nervous if i have ONE night per week without my husband or mom’s help, so you should feel proud. and when i do my flying solo, way more than 1 glass of wine is required. how does one caregiver put three kids to bed? impossible!

Reply Manasi March 10, 2019 at 7:11 pm

Im Indian too and my mom got my ears pierced at 6 months old. Funnily enough she didn’t do it with my sister,who waited until my wedding to do it because she was scared of needles! I love earrings on little girls! She looks so adorable! I love how proud she is. And how smart to do both at once!f

Reply Laura Vanderkam March 10, 2019 at 7:11 pm

I am such a fan of becoming a member at museums for precisely the reason you mention — you can go for an hour and it’s fine. No need to worry about getting your money’s worth.
A’s earrings look adorable!

Reply xykademiqz March 10, 2019 at 7:10 pm

SHU, Cameron looks so much like you in the second picture from the bottom! He has the same smile as Mom! 🙂

Reply Brittnie March 10, 2019 at 7:10 pm

What a great weekend! I am on day two of five days solo parenting (Brandon traveling for work) but so far so good! Love A’s enthusiasm for her new earrings! Super cute.