There are moments when I realize that I’ve grown as a parent, and I often don’t realize them until they’ve passed. This weekend was one.
Jose went to Austin to visit his friend Seth (who actually lives in New York, but was there for work last week and stayed through the weekend). He left on Saturday after lunch and came back yesterday evening. While he was gone, Emma and I had a grand old time:
We ran several errands and had mommy-daughter dinner at Zoe’s Kitchen afterwards.
We stopped by the neighborhood clubhouse on our way home to enjoy this awesome rainbow. (Actually a double rainbow, if you look really closely!)
We took selfies in bed on Sunday morning after she came pitter-pattering into my room.
We went on a walk, did our weekly grocery shopping, and then had a great time at Keagan’s 3rd birthday party Sunday afternoon.
Just over a year ago, I wrote a post about my 9 days of “solo parenting” while Jose was on a work trip to Moscow. I still remember how anxious I felt then at the thought of several days without my parenting teammate and at the end, I wrote that even though the week went well, “I think I’ll probably always feel slightly panicked by the thought of solo parenting.”
A year later, that’s no longer true. And although I’ll never exactly be excited about Jose being gone, I don’t feel panicked about it anymore. (And while Jose was only gone 1 night this time, I feel confident saying I’d have felt the same way even if it’d been a week or more.)
Writing about “solo parenting,” especially when it’s only for a day or two, can be a sensitive thing. I’m not trying to compare my experiences to being a single parent in any way, shape, or form. A lot of people surely have it much harder than me, some have it easier, and all in all I’m in a great situation.
But I think becoming a parent, no matter your circumstances, is tough. There are always challenges. For me, one of them has been becoming comfortable in this role, figuring out how to combine my needs and wants with Emma’s, and staying reasonably happy in the process. And I feel like in the last few months, I’ve taken another big step.
Chalk it up to another year of mothering under my belt, or to another year of development from Emma. Either way, last weekend I was good. We were good. And when I realized this on Sunday night, as I sat in the living room listening to Jose give Emma a bath down the hall, I felt a combination of wonder and relief…and a little bit of pride.
Kathleen Basi says
Beautiful pictures! I remember crying when Christian went back to work after Alex was born. By the third child I was like, “Yeah, go, see you at the end of the day.”
saroy says
Isn’t it funny how we adjust? Well, maybe not exactly funny but just GOOD.