So this week I will leave behind my baby and big kid with my big husband and flew away to New York City for five glorious and exhausting days. However, I’m convinced that the five days leading up to leaving may be more exhausting than the five days I actually spend in New York. (That city makes me SO TIRED.) My husband works full time and I know he doesn’t have time to cook, clean, organize and run the house the way I do, not because he’s incapable, but because he’s gone 9 hours a day and doesn’t witness how I do a majority of things.
Meals have been made and left in the fridge with notes about which vegetable goes with which meal. The cats are stocked with a little sticky note above their food with a photo that tells Cody what kind they need and where to buy it and a gentle reminder to scoop and scoop often.
There’s printed instructions above the washer of how to wash and care for the diapers, but there’s no worries on the rest of the laundry, after a few early marital fights about shrunken sweaters we hashed out the laundry thing early on. He’s never really been around when I wash diapers, but with the instructions it should go just fine.
Once I get back from New York he and I will be leaving on a week long cruise, leaving my mother in law in charge of our kids and our house with one day of training. I’ve been trying to think ahead about what needs to be done, what needs to be explained and what needs to have detailed instructions not only for Cody while I’m gone, but for his mom as well, there won’t be any calling us up on the cruise ship to ask where the kitty litter is kept.
The girls have fun with their dad, it’s a welcome change of pace for all of us and it certainly leaves us all with a much deeper appreciation for how much the other one does for the family.
Have you traveled without the family? Share your experiences with us in the comments below.
About the Author
Casey Mullins is a writer, photographer and chocolate cake lover living in Indianapolis, IN. She’s an attorney’s wife, mom to a very opinionated seven year old (Addie) as well as a very happy cloth diaper wearing baby girl born in May 2011 (Vivi.) She taps out tales at her own blog, moosh in indy, and more on her baby and big kid over at Babble.
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People who work and are away from home for six hours or more usually hire a dog walker for the first two months or so until they can get their pups to hold it for longer periods of time. If you work a longer day, you will probably want someone to come home and let your dog out in the middle of the day for a little fun and exercise a few days a week.
cleaning rag
I left my hubby in charge for five days once and he didn’t get round to doing a nappy wash until the day before I was due home, so he had to buy disposable nappies once he had depleted the stock. Then he failed to put on one of the nappy buckets (I have two buckets on the go) so only washed half of the stash anyway!
You sound exactly as I did back in July when I left my then 9-month-old for five days for a conference. I went crazy making sure I had enough food/meals planned, breastmilk frozen (oh the planning for that took months!) clothes cleaned, house cleaned, cat food stocked, diapers washed (I did ask my husband if he knew how. He kinda knew the steps, but instead of trying to explain that on top of everything else, he used disposables) and so on. But once I left, I left. I didn’t worry about them b/c he’s trustworthy and smart enough to figure it out (otherwise, why would I have married him and then have a kid with him?!). I only checked in twice plus a few texts. And they did great. There was one outfit I saw and thought “what the…”, but, hey, at least she had on clothes.