The Longest Business Trip

I believe it is Murphy's Law that states, "when your husband goes on a business trip leaving you alone with the kids, something will break, someone will get sick, or the dog will shit in the house." I could be wrong on that, but I'm pretty sure it is something to that effect.

This has been the longest business trip yet for Bruce...broken up by a brief return home on the weekends. Three weeks, total. I have, for the most part, been managing fairly well. I've kept up on the day to day activities...made sure the little ones have done their homework, planned out the dinner menu, and managed to actually bathe the children once in awhile. However, there is inevitably something that trips me up, sending me into that downward spiral of shame where I start using sarcasm on the five-year-old, feel my eye begin to twitch and find myself rationalizing that "it's 5pm somewhere." To my credit, I have waited until bedtime to actually crack open a beer...but it has taken a great deal of will-power.

Yesterday seemed to be the culmination of things that happen when Bruce is away on a trip. And they all seemed to happen within the span of about 15-minutes. We had just finished dinner, and needed to do the "Home Alone" rushing to the airport re-enactment of getting ready to go to Taekwondo.

"Where's my belt?"

"I don't have a white shirt...wait...yes I do."

"No, I will put the bo staffs in the car...stop before you poke someone's eye out!"

The boys were wild. When Connor gets wild, he does this little thing where he throws up. I don't know if it's due to those early years of horrible reflux, or if he gets motion sickness from his own motion...but he threw up. Then the dog decided to pee all over the floor (which he hasn't done in a very long time.) Then the washing machine decided not to washing machine anymore...which I decided I could deal with later. Except for the fact that it was Connor's bedding, which he had peed on the night before and kind of needed that night, so I was really hoping I could get it into the dryer before we left. No such luck.

After squishing all of the kids and gear into the vehicle, we managed to leave the house...and realize we were out of gas. I think a special shout out needs to go to the Polar Vortex for making my evening even more memorable as I stood outside pumping gas in my Taekwondo uniform.

Somehow we survived class, and made it home with almost all of our gear (I believe we left a board there.) The kids finally went to bed.

This morning wasn't too bad...other than Owen now waking up covered in his own pee, causing us to rush around after an impromptu shower, and a long discussion over the cutting of the toast into certain geometrical patterns that must be done with precision so as not to bring on Owen's Hulk-like personality disorder. He is a charming child, really...very amicable. But you do not want to see him angry.

We are only half-way through the second week. I think today I am going to have a long talk with the washing machine, and then go buy some lunch and surprise Irelynn at school (who has been asking for a lunch date for a week now.) Hopefully between that, and spending dinner with some good friends tonight, I can get back to feeling like I can handle this again. At least until the next incident involving bodily fluid or one of the kids singing "What Does the Fox Say."

At least I stocked up on beer.