So Paul is gone again...

This time he is on a youth retreat. This is the 5th out of 7 weeks that either he or we have been gone...mind you "we" have only been gone one of those weeks. Needless to say I am growing weary of him being gone on the weekends.
I was telling someone the other day that the Spring is the busiest time for us. I have no idea why?!?! It just always has been that way.

...pause, the phone is ringing...and it's Paul...

Ok...I'm back. He's having a great time and I'm trying to not tell him EVERYTHING that is going disastrously. Right now I must tip my hat...figuatively, of course because I'm not wearing a hat...to single parents. No matter how they find themselves single, being a single parent has to be one of the most difficult jobs in the world...maybe that's why God intended it to be a partnership between a husband and wife. Often, when Paul is gone, I tend to let my mind wander to what it would be like if, tragically, Paul didn't come back. I must quickly take those thoughts captive because I don't have the time or tears to spend...because as I said earlier, Paul is gone and I have three kids vying for my attention.

Which brings me to my next point. It's not necessarily the kids that make this so hard. I have fantastic kids! They are easy going and they travel well, they are well behaved in stores and restaurants. So, Tanya, what is the hardest part, you might ask? Ok here's a good example...just now, not two seconds ago, I asked Abby to be careful where she was stepping because my coffee cup was on the floor next to the couch where I'm sitting. So while she was looking at where the coffee cup was, she leaned on the couch pillows and the remote control fell off the couch, hit the coffee cup with a direct shot and spilled it. All I can say is UUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHHH! Not really her fault, but still...frustrating. Last night we had another such incident. As I was dressing Abby for bed after her bath, I heard some mild splashing, nothing to be alarmed about, so I dismissed...you know...pick your battles. So I get Abby ready for bed and then went to the kitchen to fix everyone's chocolate milk. When I got back to the bathroom...you guessed it...the entire contents of the bathtub out on the floor and two naked boys looking and pointing at each other saying, "he did it...nuh uh...he did it!" so it took 5...F-I-V-E towels to clean up the mess! I was really mad. I got everyone into bed and just left the bathroom the way it was...I would only get madder(?)(is that a word) if I dealt with it then. So, I don't even want to go into the whole bed time fiasco! Needless to say it finally ended at 11:15 when Abby and I went to bed together.
All this to say...I don't think any of these things would have happened or had the impact that they did if Paul was around. For whatever reason things are just more even when he's around. Again, that's why God intended it to be a partnership. I think I'm ready to begin my day, I have a bathroom to clean, coffee to clean up, and plenty of other general chores around the house. I will probably prioritize and get very little done! Oh well, Paul will be home tomorrow and the universe will return to proper balance!