Parenting solo

I have been solo parenting this week. Both my wife and my mother-in-law (who lives with us full-time) went down to Georgia to see some extended family for six days over the American Thanksgiving weekend, which means that our family went down from three parents to one in short order.

As soon as they left, my eldest son promptly came down with a flu-like illness, and then my youngest decided that it would be a great time to get a case of strep throat, so we had several nights of bodily fluids, fevers, medication, night terrors, and very little sleep. 

To make things even better, the fridge decided to fail, so I had to plug in the old chest freezer, transfer all the perishables, and take three small children appliance shopping in the middle of Black Friday sales events.  So much holiday joy.

None of this was the end of the world, of course.  We managed.  We got the laundry cleaned and the bathrooms done (usually Mom's and Mom-in-law's jobs) on top of our regular chores.  We even decorated the Christmas tree and bought Mom's gift.  I will say though, that it was a good reminder to me of how lucky I am to have two other parents in the house.