Annie was in Chicago on business for four days this past weekend. She came home yesterday afternoon. This morning she returned to work and life was back on routine with me getting Lyd ready for school. As she was eating her oatmeal, Lydia said to me,

“Now that Mommy’s home, it’s your turn to go to Chicago!”
“Why’s that Hun?”
“Because I’m getting sick of you.”

She didn’t say it in spite, there wasn’t anything mean or cruel in her tone, she did not mean it to be hurtful, it was just truthful. Regardless, it still cut deep enough that I had to call it out. When she realized she said something hurtful she became tearful and sorry. I was pretty gentle about it all.
Regardless, kids have an honesty about them, and this was a prime example. She is getting sick of me, and I can’t say I blame her.
I’m not the fun parent. I get her ready for school every day, whether she wants to or not. I sit her down to help her with her homework, I remind her to look at her morning checklist, I remind her to go sit on the potty. I clean her up every morning, I make her stand still while I braid her hair. I put her in time-outs, I tell her to try and be nicer to her sister, I tell her sister to try and…just be nicer, I break up their fights, I let them have it out.
The school year grind from January to Spring is brutal. A lot of school happens during this time period, it’s a routine that really starts feeling worn dull and it’s just tiring. She’s a little grumpy, I’m pretty much just as grumpy. By the time the weekend rolls around, we both need a little bit of time away from each other. There’s not much time for us to have fun together these days.
I’m the Stay-At-Home Parent, I’m running the house, I’m running the girls, I’m running myself into the ground. I, in essence, pave the way for Annie to be the more fun parent, it was never meant to work out that way, it’s Annie just giving me a break. Annie takes her to the dance classes and the swimming lessons. After dance Lyd gets to be Annie’s “assistant” for grocery shopping. She calls it “Mommy-Lydie Days”. Annie has the important looking office with the colorful “not-crayons” pens and interesting co-workers all greeting Lyd with big smiles.
Me? I’m wearing a grubby shirt. I couldn’t watch her little performance when she wanted me to because Regina had a blow-out diaper.
The things I’m doing today are things Lydia won’t appreciate for another fifteen years. She won’t fully appreciate it until she has a Kindergartner herself. That’s fine. I can live with that.
That statement of hers came in the wake of Annie’s four-day absence. Lydia never got her “Mommy-Lydie Day” also known as “Mommy, get me the (bleep) away from this slave-driver!” Day. It was just the three of us, it was rough, there’s no denying it. My meals don’t taste as good as Annie’s, my methods are not as gentle or empathetic as Annie’s. The morning routine was a little more chaotic than normal – little hiccups revolving around dedicated tasks Annie helps with in the mornings. I was certainly qualified for what I did over the weekend, but that didn’t mean I enjoyed doing it alone! One thing I walked away with over the weekend is that a Stay-At-Home parent cannot exist unless there is a parent who is going to work every day. So much focus these days is put upon the stay-at-home parent that it becomes pretty easy to overlook the other side – the working parent. Everyone makes a sacrifice when a lifestyle like this is adopted. Although one parent might be home all day, parenthood is still a team effort. By Tuesday I was seriously missing Annie, and apparently the girls were missing her as well.

“I’m getting sick of you.”–from the mouths of babes.
Yes Hun, I know. I get it and I honestly don’t blame you.
Now finish your oatmeal, we need to go over your sight word list.