There was a time that I used to say, \u201cI just don\u2019t know how single parents do it.\u201d\u00a0 Now I know the answer to that.<\/p>\n
You know the saying \u201cWhen it rains, it pours\u201d?\u00a0 Well, I\u2019ve been living that this month.\u00a0 And I\u2019m not just talking about the extreme Spring weather we\u2019ve been having for the past week, which is typical in the Midwest this time of year.\u00a0 We\u2019ve had tornado warnings, golf ball sized hail dumped in massive amounts, thunder that shakes the house like an earthquake and severe flash flooding.\u00a0 There is even a video going around of my friend Jay\u2019s brand new truck that literally floated away.\u00a0 Insane.<\/p>\n
And yet, when I saw Jay yesterday, he was his usual smiley self.\u00a0 He even had us take a selfie to give a shout out to our friend Mike who ran an impressive marathon time at the GO! St. Louis marathon yesterday.\u00a0 His first ever brand new car, only 3 weeks old, totaled.\u00a0 Ugh.\u00a0 And yet, he is a perfect example of strength and grace under pressure.\u00a0 Peace.<\/p>\n
In addition to the literal rain, I\u2019ve had a metaphorical downpour happening for the past week, as well.\u00a0 The kids are with me full time this month since their dad is litigating a trial in\u2026somewhere, Wisconsin, maybe.\u00a0 That started last week, so while most people were saying \u201cTGIF!\u201d I was bracing for the weekend.\u00a0 Let me give you a rundown of what the past 72+ hours looked like around here.<\/p>\n
Friday, we were up at the usual time and I dropped the kids at school by a couple minutes after 8.\u00a0 I ran by the bank, filled up the car with gas, stopped by home to pay a couple bills and grab my bag.\u00a0 Then I was off to school for Orientation.\u00a0 When Orientation was done, I headed straight to work and got there just as the clock struck 1.\u00a0 I did a quick costume change and settled in for the afternoon.\u00a0 I was starving, so I shoved a chicken salad sandwich in my face as fast as I could.\u00a0 The afternoon passed into evening and the last customer left the store just minutes before 8.\u00a0 I got everything closed down and then did a quick change into the warmest items I had with me.\u00a0 The temperature had dropped with the sun and I still wasn\u2019t done for the day.<\/p>\n
While I was at work, the kids had been picked up from school by their grandparents.\u00a0 Papa had taken Ethan to the Chesterfield ball fields for his first game on the season, starting at 8:00.\u00a0 Again, I was starving, so I swung through the McD\u2019s drivethru on my way to the game.\u00a0 Don\u2019t judge me, it was desperation.\u00a0 I got to the field, just as Ethan walked up to the plate for his first at bat of the season.\u00a0 Ethan\u2019s team, the Blaze, won the game 7-5 and it was finally over by 10 pm.\u00a0 I was really glad I\u2019d had a blanket in the back of the car.\u00a0 As we rolled back through the drivethru to get Ethan a smoothie, I promised the guy in the window that I wouldn\u2019t be back again, 2 visits that night was all I was planning to make.\u00a0 He chuckled and Ethan asked, \u201cYou were already here?\u201d<\/p>\n
I dropped Ethan back off at the Grandparents\u2019 house with his brother, sister and cousins since they were doing a group sleepover.\u00a0 I was thrilled at the prospect of a \u201cnight off\u201d.\u00a0 I said a quick hi to Ally since Silas was already asleep.\u00a0 Then I jumped in the car and drove home where I finally unloaded my new books from school, threw in a load of laundry, unloaded the dishwasher and sank onto the couch at 11pm.\u00a0 Some exciting Friday night, huh?\u00a0 After a 16 hour day, I was exhausted.\u00a0 But I pulled out my Biology book to get a jump start, until I just couldn\u2019t keep my eyes open any longer.<\/p>\n
Saturday morning\u2026sleep in?\u00a0 No.\u00a0 The alarm went off at 7am and I was back at it.\u00a0 Since I opted to hit snooze a time or 3, I only had enough time for a short run.\u00a0 I went out for a sluggish 3 miles, but at least it was something.\u00a0 I jumped in the shower, packed up a lunch, made a quick stop at Walgreens and made my way over to the O\u2019Fallon store for another full day of selling shoes.\u00a0 As we neared the 5:00 hour, Sarah was highly concerned about getting me out of the store before my stress level went off the chart, so a few minutes before we closed, I took off to grab Ethan for his second baseball game of the season.\u00a0 I arrived at the Grandparents\u2019 house, again, and got hugs from all my kiddos.\u00a0 Ethan was ready to go, but the other 2 had persuaded Mimi to let them stay rather than sitting out at the ball field.\u00a0 I got Ethan to the batting cages for a warmup and then found a spot on the bleachers with the other moms.\u00a0 Ethan\u2019s first at bat, he walked on 4 straight balls, then scored on a long fly to center by Oliver.\u00a0 His second at bat, he was facing the pitcher who was wearing #24 Jacobs, which I found very weird since my brother used to wear #24 and our last name happens to be the same.\u00a0 The first pitch was outside, but Ethan swung anyway, and missed.\u00a0 Second pitch was pretty much the same.\u00a0 I wondered why he was swinging at those, but I didn\u2019t want to be the mom who yells criticism from the stands, so I just yelled an encouraging, \u201cLet\u2019s go E!\u201d\u00a0 The next pitch was a ball and Ethan let it go by.\u00a0 The count was 1-2.\u00a0 Jacobs wound up and threw the ball toward the plate.\u00a0 Ethan swung and made contact.\u00a0 It was a shot right out to center and it bounced right past the fielder.\u00a0 Ethan stepped on first and headed toward second.\u00a0 He kept going.\u00a0 As he rounded third, the throw was coming in from the outfield.\u00a0 Ethan slid into home just as the ball reached the catcher\u2019s mitt and he dropped the ball.\u00a0 Safe!\u00a0 Homerun Ethan!<\/p>\n
I can\u2019t think of too many sports moments in history that have gotten me that excited.\u00a0 (And that\u2019s saying something since my Spartans just made it to the Final 4 as a 7 seed last month.\u00a0 Again!)\u00a0 My heart was racing and I was beaming.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t have been more proud.\u00a0 And the look on Ethan\u2019s face when he stood up and smiled at me as he jogged back to his teammates in the dugout was priceless.\u00a0 I tucked that moment right into my heart for safe keeping.<\/p>\n
At 8:00 as the team wrapped up, I got a funnel cake from the concession stand for Ethan and I to share, since I hadn\u2019t eaten anything since chicken salad 2.0 at 1pm.\u00a0 As we walked back to the car, we talked about his homer.\u00a0 The Blaze won 14-2.<\/p>\n
We got back to the Grandparents\u2019 and picked up the other two, along with backpacks and gear.\u00a0 We got home and I sent Ethan to the shower.\u00a0 I started another load of laundry and began the process of emptying lunchboxes and going through Friday folders from the day before.<\/p>\n
By 9pm, the boys were in bed, both sound asleep.\u00a0 I sat on the couch with Ally, her watching TV, me with my nose in a Bio book.\u00a0 2 days down, 1 more to go before the weekend was over.<\/p>\n
Sunday\u2026again up a little after 7.\u00a0 When I came downstairs at 8:15, still with wet hair, the boys were still in pajamas watching tv with Brian.\u00a0 I hadn\u2019t even heard him come in, but it was nice to see him after a few days apart.\u00a0 We had coffee and I sent the boys to get dressed for church.\u00a0 We drove separately since we both had things to do afterward.\u00a0 Pastor Greg talked about \u201cShalom\u201d.\u00a0 Peace.\u00a0 It made me think of a card that reads, \u201cPeace.\u00a0 It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work.\u00a0 It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.\u201d<\/p>\n
After church, I dropped the kids back off with their Grandparents, did a quick grocery store run, home to put stuff in the refridge, and a quick change for work.\u00a0 Then I was back at the store with Hannah.<\/p>\n
At 5:00 when we closed, the race was on again.\u00a0 Somewhere in the past couple days, I got a text from Silas\u2019 teacher that he was going to help do introductions at the Grandparent\u2019s Day event at school on Monday.\u00a0 He was supposed to dress as a Grandpa.\u00a0 So I thought it would be hilarious to send him as Carl, from the movie Up.\u00a0 Balloons and all.\u00a0 I had preordered a bunch of balloons from Party City, so I swung by to grab them on my way to pick up the kids.\u00a0 After retrieving the crew, we went home and my beau got the grill fired up for dinner.\u00a0 I was so happy the weekend was OVER!!!<\/p>\n
By 9pm, everyone except Ally was in bed.\u00a0 I followed shortly afterward, snuggled up with my Bio book.\u00a0 And when the alarm went off at 6:15, it was go time.\u00a0 I finished making lunches, gathering props for Silas, packing my bag and I shuffled everyone into the car at 7:20.\u00a0 I only made one accidental wrong turn on our way to drop the kids at our friends, the Thompson\u2019s, house.\u00a0 It was force of habit, I was already heading to my school.\u00a0 I delivered the kids, and the balloons, and all the stuff.\u00a0 And then I went off to school for my first day of class.\u00a0 I am hoping to pop over to the school and see Silas in costume before I have to get to work.\u00a0 I still haven\u2019t heard back from my sitter yet, so I don\u2019t know exactly what\u2019s going to happen with the kids later.\u00a0 I have mouths to feed.\u00a0 I have homework to oversee.\u00a0 I have my own homework to do.\u00a0 I have little people depending on me. I have\u2026chaos.\u00a0 I have noise and trouble and hard work.\u00a0 But I\u2019ll get through it.<\/p>\n
Because the thing is\u2026even being in the midst of all that I have peace.\u00a0 I have laughter.\u00a0 I have homeruns!\u00a0 I have so much joy.<\/p>\n
So, if you\u2019re still wondering what the answer is to the question, \u201cHow do single parents do it?\u201d The answer is\u2026it\u2019s not so much about \u201chow\u201d, we just do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There was a time that I used to say, \u201cI just don\u2019t know how single parents do it.\u201d\u00a0 Now I know the answer to that. You know the saying \u201cWhen it rains, it pours\u201d?\u00a0 Well, I\u2019ve been living that this month.\u00a0 And I\u2019m not just talking about the extreme Spring weather we\u2019ve been having for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"aside","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-aside","hentry","category-randomthoughts","post_format-post-format-aside"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4eO4v-bk","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=702"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":703,"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702\/revisions\/703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}