(click to enlarge)Gavan left for New Zealand this morning. He is away for 16 days, leaving me on my own to fend for kids, dogs, lawncare, bathtime, dishes, laundry, bedtimes, groceries, gas, banking, dinners and endless amounts of diaper changes all by myself. Ok, not exactly by myself. Thyra's official last day of school was today (not that she went), and she will be around to be my right-hand man they way she usually is.
But back to my pity party....I know there will be a few days of anxiously looking at the clock around 5 pm, counting down the minutes as I do every night until Gavan walks through the door, only to realize that he's not going to show up,(with whatever grocery item I forgot and desperately need to start dinner), anytime soon.
I will, however, survive. (And hopefully my kids do too).
After all... I have been here before. I have several years of single-motherhood under my belt, and even though there were far less kids and dogs involved, I do believe it has contributed to some spirit of independence, of which I hope a modicum remains. I guess we'll find out.
The idea of wallowing in self-pity until the father of my children returns started losing it's charm not long after wishing Mr. Dearly Departed ("departed" in a literal sense, not the other more morbid sense) a Bon Voyage! After blowing our kisses, and bidding fond farewells, we went from the airport to visit my cousin Preya, who coincidentally just arrived this morning after being away in Pemba, Mozambique for the last 10 months. Preya, her husband Dayne and their kids moved to Africa last August, an unthinkable adventure for most of us, let alone with a brand new,weeks old baby.
Having lived overseas for most of their marriage in several exotic locations, Preya is old-hat at adjusting to a new culture, new language, new way of life. But having kids undoubtedly adds to the trials and complexities of ex-pat life and much of the time she is on her own as Dayne is often away with his job.
I realized today that if she can not only manage her three kids, ages 4, 2 1/2 and almost 1, across the world, without all the familiar comforts of Canadian life we are accustomed to, but can also successfully shuffle them from one continent to another on their visits home, and do all of this alone, I can most definitely manage my little tribe for a couple of weeks without whining too much about hardship or exhaustion.
Even so, I'll be crossing off the days until Hubs gets back. 1 down, 15 to go.
(Have a wonderful vacation Gav. You owe me BIGTIME!)
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3 comments:
Hang in there! Every time Ruben has to go away for a long period, I get spoilt and my mom or mother-in-law usually come for a few days. I too think of Preya when I have a pity party!! I honestly don't know how she does it. She is woman, hear her roar!!!
I'll be thinking of you! I count down the hours until Glenn gets home from work. I say, 3 cheers for Dads!
isn't is amazing the strength that comes when we need it?! I have been in your shoes many times, as Jeff works out of town alot or gets called out to work in the middle of the night etc etc!! Absence defiantly makes the heart grow fonder.
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