My Real Life

So, Real Man went to California last week for work.

We missed him.

A lot.

But, I learned much while he was gone, and so, today I present to you:

Things I Learned While My Husband Was Away for a Week on Business

1.  I am not the messy sleeper I always thought I was.

When Real Man and I wake up in the morning, the covers look like a tornado touched down right in the middle of our bed, and because I’m a light sleeper and wake up several times throughout the night, I always just assumed it was me.

Guess what?

It’s not.

Last week, I was able to slip out of bed in the morning and simply give a little tug to the quilt and voila!

Bed. Made.

2.  Funny things aren’t quite as funny without Real Man.

First of all, the guy is just plain funny.

He makes me laugh like a fool.

Secondly, things that we laugh at, I realize we laugh at them together.

Funny things happened throughout the day and I wanted to tell him, but the time schedule was off and suddenly, they weren’t quite as funny.

Even some of the shows I watch, like The New Girl, which I’ve discussed before.

It’s the show that he “doesn’t watch” with me.

Some of the things that would have made me chuckle if he was home didn’t make me chuckle as much because I think part of my laughter is a reaction to his laughter.

3.  I’m lazy.

While he was gone, the house ran like clockwork.

I left the house for work on time.

Lunches were always made the night before.

Everyone was in bed on time.

The house was spotless.

This may not translate to “lazy” upon first read, but here’s the truth.

When Real Man is home, I think I know that there is always someone else around to do some things, and so I don’t get them done quite as timely.

For example…I know I should always make lunches the night before because I leave the house at 7 am.

But, sometimes I’m tired, and I don’t, because I think, “I can ask Real Man to make them in the morning before he leaves for work,” because he doesn’t leave until 8 am.

Which is fine, but some mornings he goes for a run and isn’t available to make the lunches and so I scramble to get them made before I leave which makes me late.

I knew he wasn’t home last week, so I made those lunches each night so I knew for sure I’d be able to get out of the house on time in the morning.

Lesson?

I need to act as if I don’t have someone else to rely on in order to keep me on top of things, and then when he does those things anyway (because he does them often) it’ll be a added bonus.

I know at least one person who is going to read this and say “Wow…this makes it sound like Real Man doesn’t do anything around the house,” and the person who is going to think that has a name that rhymes with “Teal Van,” so I just want to clarify…that’s not what I’m saying.

4.  Single parents should be showered with gifts and kindness every single day of their lives.

I love my kids and they are good kids, but they are normal kids who aren’t perfect every second of every day.

And there were moments in the past week where I just needed a minute or two to myself.

A minute to walk away because the grumpy kid had pushed a few too many buttons or a minute to hide in the bathroom because I couldn’t answer another question.

That minute didn’t come because there was no one to share the load, and that’s hard.

Even though Real Man doesn’t get home until dinnertime, it is still another person to answer the question, kiss the boo-boo, pour the fourth glass of milk, etc.

So, kudos to the single parents out there, and believe me…I know a lot of them and am just so impressed.

5.  I really, really, really enjoy my kids.

Okay, I didn’t just learn this last week, but it was driven home last week.

I went to work, taught piano, came home and it was just me and the monkeys.

They were my sole source of conversation outside of my jobs and it was lovely.

We played outside together, played inside together, snuggled up at night to watch Dr. Who, read books, whispered secrets at bedtime and it hit home, again, that I really like these kids.

Even if they weren’t my kids, they’d be kids I’d want to know.

They are interesting and always have good stories to share and creative ideas for games and they are just good little people.

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Real Man is home now, and while we survived this absence and will likely survive the others to come, we are so very, very grateful to have him home.