Life and BaseBall

Life as a working single parent it tough!

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Bryan has been gone since April 11th. Its his field season. That means he is gone for three months with only a few days home during that time. He is tagging fish for the next few months. We miss him!

 

This isn't new to us. This is our 4th field season. But a few things have changed this year. 

This is the first year I have worked during his field season. 

This is also the first year that he was not able to come home more often. 

 

I work 40ish hours a week. 

Usually Bryan and I juggle our schedules so the girls are with one of us as much as possible. We have been able to get by with only needing a babysitter 10 hours a week. That all changed when his field season started. 

We are lucky that we have a few great babysitters to help with the girls but this is that hardest thing I have ever done. I am lucky that I have a great boss that lets me work some  from home and he lets me work around our families schedule so I can be with the girls as much as possible. 

 

That being said I still have a hard time swallowing how much I am away from the girls. 

I hate it! I hate that I don't pick Abby up from pre-school and hear about her day. I hate that I am not there for every practice for Brooke. I hate that I am just surviving as a parent. I miss feeling like I was in touch with everything. Now I forget to send back homework, serve cereal for dinner on a regular basis, turn a blind eye to the dirty bathroom, and feel like I am on running for my life all day long.

 

I do feel blessed that we can make it work. 

We are making ends meet and we are so blessed to have each other. It's just tough. 

I really thought it was tough being a stay at home mom when I was at home. I still think its one of the hardest jobs. I now have so much respect for working single moms. Its so hard to keep going when you are a one man show. Its so hard living with "mommy guilt" that comes with being gone. 

I only have to do this for a few months. There are so many who do this alone all the time. My hat is off to them. I am lucky that I get to go back to trying to juggle all this with my partner soon. My hat is also off to any wife and mother who has a deployed spouse. Shannon Dudley you are such and inspiration to me. Thank you for your blog!

OK I think I have expressed my pain for long enough. We are making it through one day at a time and that is just fine for now. I am so grateful for my family and all the support.

 On to Baseball. 
Brooke is playing t-ball this spring. She is loving it.
She is quite good. She has a lot of natural athletic ability.

Here are some pictures from her second game.

She did great. Here are the highlights:
She played in the dirt.
Got on base (this happens for every kids each time they bat)
Got tired on third base.
And told the other team good game.
Go Knights!