Single parenting

Rachel has been on her girly spa weekend, so I've had the kids to myself for the last 48 hours or so. They've been delightful for the most part, and I think we've all had a good time.

I've discovered that the secret to harmonious family time is to make yourself completely available to the kids. If they want to play a game, say yes. If they want to tell you a long story with no point, listen to them. If they want you to watch them while they do something silly, just do it. Once you start saying no, or just a minute, that's when all hell tends to break loose. Interestingly, saying yes to your kids all the time doesn't mean that you're on your knees all day, playing with dolls. The kids actually just want to know that they can have your attention, but they don't actually want it non-stop. Which means as a parent you can get away with sitting on the couch reading a magazine, as long as you're ready to have 5 minutes or so of playtime several times an hour.

We just goofed off at home on Friday afternoon, and went to bed fairly early, since the kids were all pretty tired. On Saturday, I'd intended to skip naps and have an extended outing some place fun, but Parker was complaining about a stomache ache in the morning, and all of the kids claimed they wanted to play at home, so that's what we did. After naps, we went to the Play Place, which is extremely trashy, but which the kids love. The fun there was brought to a halt when some kid peed down the slide, not one of ours, thank god. After that, we went to Target to get some bubblebath, which seemed like just the thing. After a fine dinner of silver dollar french toast, and an extended bubblebath, the kids were down for the count by 7:15 or so.

Today, I wanted to run some errands, so I hustled them into clothes by 9am or so and hit the road. I've been wanting to buy Green Eggs and Ham, so we headed to the bookstore, where we spent about an hour or so, perusing the options. In addition to the Dr. Seuss, we also got a new Frog & Toad book, a new Harry the Dirty Dog book, and a copy of Chicka Chicka boom boom, to replace the one we have which is tattered. The kids seemed pretty pleased with these choices, although Miranda was highly agitated that she didn't get to get a stuffed animal just because she wanted one and she's cute.

After that we went to Home Depot to pick up a new air filter and some lightbulbs, and then to Office Depot to get a new color printer. I could have done both of those errands some other time, but it's nice to be an undaunted single father of three, and there's no better way to prove than to herd the kids through Home Depot. I considered also going to Ikea, but I figured I'd proved my point.

After lunch, and some play, I got the girls down for naps, and Parker upstairs for quiet time. I'm guessing Rachel will be home any minutes, and boy will the kids be happy to see here.