4 Ways To Survive Solo Parenting
Woohoo! I made it through my first two-kid-solo-parenting gig! My husband came back last night to 3 sleeping family members! That's right, even I was asleep -- I passed out from exhaustion while snuggling with my toddler. The sleep went a lot better than expected, although at a certain point each night both boys were in my bed, with me right in the middle. Each was clutching an arm -- it's a good thing I have two. It was quite cute, although not necessarily sleep-inducing.
Even though I was thoroughly drained, I think a few things helped me to get through with relative ease. Here is a list of tips I compiled:
Related: Boy or girl? This 4-month-old is being raised genderless.
1. Make Plans: I didn't overbook us, but I made sure we had activities to get us from one hour to the next. Shnook had his babysitter, and Fuzz and I met up with a friend for a walk one day. I also let the babysitter watch Fuzz for 2-3 hours so I could have a moment alone. It really went by like a flash, but I was grateful to have that pocket of time.
2. Dinner With Friends (That Have Kids): My neighbor has two kids that love to play with Shnook and Fuzz. They invited us over during those difficult hours of 5-7 p.m. I brought both kids' pajamas and we took our baths over there. All I had to do when I got home was brush teeth, read stories, and cuddle.
3. Schedule Difficult Windows of Time: The second night we were going it alone for dinner/bath/bedtime, so I made a list of things we needed to do and an order to do them. I even included little things like going to the bathroom and washing hands. My toddler does best when he knows what is happening and when.
Related: 5 tips to get your baby to sleep soundly through the night
Shnook can repeat back to me the order of events. This makes him feel more in control and less likely to have tantrums. So in the car we went over what was going to happen once we got inside. We didn't have a strict time clock, but when we were done with one thing, we moved on to the next thing right away.
4. Prepare Stuff: Once the kids were asleep, I used my writing time (hence my gap in posts) to prep both kids' meals for the next day and made sure they had clean clothes and pajamas for the next night. I also took a shower myself (at midnight) because I realized once the kids were awake, I wouldn't be able to find time to do that. It wasn't ideal (I slept on wet hair) but I will say I was a lot more relaxed when I went to bed. It definitely lifted a lot of anxiety for the next day. Plus I was rockin' the wavy hair-do.
For more tips to survive solo parenting, visit Babble.
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Naomi Odes Aytur is a writer and mother of two sons, the youngest of whom was born in the end of August 2010. Before that she was an elementary school teacher, and before that, she was an actor. Naomi blogs more about motherhood at I Am Still Awake, and about sandwiches at Traders-'n-Wiches. Naomi lives in Los Angeles, CA and South Hero, VT.
