Week One

Okay, so I've now made it one week without obsessively reading (or listening to or watching) the news. I still managed to pick up a little bit of the week's more egregious stories while scrolling through my facebook feed.

I do rather miss knowing what's going on. At the same time, you know the parenting strategy, where you don't reward bad behavior by giving it attention? That's what I'm doing right now. I'm withholding attention due to bad behavior.

This week has been an additionally challenging one at the Wyse home since Fritz is out of the country. Consequently, I'm a single parent, working full-time with three kids. I had to take some time off today because the babysitter couldn't watch the kids. It's the first time I've taken off since starting my job in October, and I tried to cram in all sorts of errands and activities. I will tell you, it's NOT more difficult to be working full-time. For most days during Fritz's travel, I have been able to rely on the time at work to be child-free. That wasn't really an option when I was a SAHM. So, in some ways, being SAHM with a traveling partner was actually more difficult.

Still, it's no fun. The week started off well enough. On Monday morning, Noah made me coffee for breakfast and Mattias unloaded the dishwasher! That was an amazing start! But by Thursday morning, Mattias and Noah decided to prank their sister by covering every handle and door knob in her room with toothpaste or lotion or gel soap. I heard her screaming upstairs – she wouldn't come down to me – and I got a nice handful of toothpaste on my own hand when I opened the door to find her "trapped" in her room. And then there was a sudden fascination with wax and candles. At one point, Noah headed to the park with his friend with a bunch of tea lights, matches and aluminum foil. I still don't know exactly what he was doing or thinking.

The person who has really kept me afloat this week is my No News Media Sponsor. He didn't quite know what he was getting into when he convinced me to pull the plug on the media. I'm not sure if it was subconscious on my part - perhaps I knew I would need someone to talk to amid all insanity that comes with Fritz being gone and in a totally different time zone? He was my sponsor for the no media campaign, for Fritz being gone, and my sounding board for job stuff.

The Sponsor lives in another state and our friendship goes back about 16 years; he predates Fritz in my life by about a year. I don't have a lot friends. I feel like relative to most people, I certainly am not in touch with many friends from so long ago. I blame it on all the moving I've done in my life. BUT ANYWAY. It is magical to have someone who will text you out of the blue and tell you stories about yourself that you had forgotten and offer unconditional support when you are feeling alone.