At Least We Didn’t Blow Up. And Other Positive Thoughts.

So, although I was joking yesterday about my husband’s man trip, I really have had a fabulous 24 hours without him around. It’s not that anything spectacular  has happened, but that I’m choosing to make it fabulous despite how much I miss him and want him home.

Here are some ways to look at the bright side if your man does go out of town and leaves you with all the kids.

Have a dance party at 7am.  Since I had to sleep with the windows open (explanation to follow), I woke up at 6:15 am with the birds. I’m beginning to really dislike birds. So, I hopped in the shower and took a LONG one since all the kids were asleep. By the time they were up, I was ready to go. They were feeling a little sluggish (natural gas inhalation maybe?) so, I turned on “Pump It” by the Black eyed peas very loudly while we danced in crazy silliness in our PJs in the living room.  (sorry neighbors if we woke you up). What can go wrong after that? Nothing. If my husband had been home, we would have all been trying to keep quiet while he slept at 7am.

You can do something he hates doing. Garage sales. Yep. That’s my idea of fun on a Saturday morning. Especially on a gorgeous day like today! Now that 2 out of the three of my kids can get themselves in and out of the car by themselves, it was actually fun to take the kids. Everyone got a toy, and I got some adorable pillows for my couch that were a steal!  JD would not go to a garage sale if I paid him!

Enjoy being the dictator. Who am I kidding? We all know that I’m usually the dictator anyway. But, I’ve found during the weekend, he tends to control dictate decide what we do. Sometimes it bugs me to get out of our routine. Today, we got to keep our routine. We went to grab lunch and let the kids play at the play place at the mall. I don’t go there often because the germs at places like that creep me out. I didn’t think about germs as much as I usually do, and just let them run and play. They loved it. I loved watching them play nicely with the other kids, and get their energy out. I would usually be checking the time every 5 minutes, but my phone died, so I just sat there, with nothing to do but watch them have fun. And, I enjoyed it. A lot. To finish it off, we had snow cones on the way home. And we were home just in time for naps!

Invite friends over to play with your kids. We had friends over yesterday afternoon and they had fun blowing bubbles and fighting them. I got to sit and relax while everyone had a good time.

Keep the house clean. I’ve noticed that when he is home, the house is usually a disaster. I can’t figure it out. He is not super messy. But, it’s like we all relax a little too much when  he is here. And, no one does anything (including me). But, since he’s been gone, I’ve stayed on top of the mess, and it feels nice. There has not been a single dish in my sink in the past 24 hours. Amazing.

But before you start to think I don’t need him….

Last night, after making the kids a “real” dinner (we had already had some form of pasta and nuggets two nights this week, so I had to) despite the fact that the husband wasn’t home, I felt so on top of things. I got the kitchen cleaned up while the kids played. We had baths, and stories, and snuggled on the couch together. The kids kept complaining of headaches, and I was feeling a little sluggish myself. And, I kept thinking, “That rice I cooked sure did leave a weird smell in the house”. In fact, I went downstairs once and even looked for something burning. The kids went to bed almost instantly, and I settled in for a movie. When it was over and I was finally getting ready for bed, it  hit me. That’s a gas smell. I left the stove on. For 6 hours straight. I ran to the kitchen, turned it off, and called my husband. Is the house going to explode? Are we all going to die? What do I do? He calmed me down, told me to turn on the fan and open the windows and let it air out all night. You see, I do this all the time. Leave the stove on after cooking, that is. But he is usually home to catch it and turn it off.

Plus, I can’t sleep when he isn’t home. I need that man. Without him, I would burn us to the ground, and be super sleep deprived.

And, let’s face it, I would be a basket case. He keeps me rational and sane when life’s troubles come my way. He is the calming force in this family, and I think BECAUSE he is gone, I feel the need to step into that role. And, if I do say so myself, I’ve done a pretty good job. But, I can’t wait for him to come back tonight.

I miss my husband when he is gone (and not just because I want help with the kids), but I like when the kids have fun memories with just me too. And, I love that while he is gone I am brainwashing them to like garage sales. Something he just doesn’t understand.

Now, I think I’m going to start making a garage sale pile myself, and start packing boxes this afternoon. It’s time to face reality that I am moving. It hasn’t hit me yet. But, now that it’s June, I better get busy.

And a little food for thought if you need this like I do.