#mrmom

My wife left me on Thursday evening.  When I came back in from the driveway there were three kids looking at me.  My three kids.  It was going to be just the four of us until Monday night.

Meredith was the first to speak.  She looked at her brother and said, "YES! No rules!"  He smiled in reply.  Seriously?  They think mom's gone, so no rules?  If anything, I'm about to impose NEW rules.  I quickly corrected her before a mutiny could form, "You mean, MORE rules?"

I started my show of authority over the children Friday morning.  "Drive us to school", they demanded.  "Take the bus.", I demanded.

Over the next few days things ran fairly smoothly. . . for the kids.  They all wanted expected to be entertained.  Don't get me wrong, I love doing things with my kids, but now there was no adult around to share in the fun.  The only real problem I had was if I was giving attention to the youngest, the oldest would get bored.  If I turned to do something with the oldest, the youngest couldn't participate and would become bored.

The biggest success in involving everyone came with a game of monkey in the middle during a trip to the park.  We were all monkeys in a game that knows no age limit.

Back at home, I was following my food menu to the letter.  I had written it before Cari left and she did my grocery shopping for me.  The menu was posted to the refrigerator and the older kids would reference it a few times a day.  I was never asked, "What's for (breakfast / lunch / dinner)?".

By Sunday afternoon I couldn't help but to be excited about Monday.  I've never been excited about Monday's before.  But this Monday was a SCHOOL day.  That would leave me and the baby on our own for the day.

It was also the last day of #mrmom because the real mom returned Monday night.  And it's a good thing she did because I'm not sure how much more I could take.

For those that were wondering, yes, I kept the house clean but I do have one question.  Does #mrmom have to do laundry?