Saturday, February 21, 2009

Surviving the weekend

Single father's survivor guide to a weekend with four girls. A weekend with the satellite TV down and my car out of commission.

Planning is in order to ensure that all five of us will be breathing at the end of the weekend.

1. Stay home on a Friday night and get much needed sleep before the crew comes home at 12 p.m. May be the only sleep you get all weekend. Check.

2. Find website to make packets for each child of coloring pages, ABCs and math worksheets, and word searches. The busier they are the quieter they will be. Check.

3. Find perfect DVD that can be on a continuous loop and keep them entertained while I try and cook meals without eight hands getting in the way. Pick up High School Musical 3 Senior Year on the way home from work. Check.

4. Pray for weekend with no rain. Giving the girls an opportunity to run around outside will tire them and hopefully and have them nicely tucked in bed at 8 p.m. and ready for sleep. Check.

5. Have mental health disorder hotline number on speed dial. Things may get crazy and I want to make sure I am not the one who is going nuts. Check.

6. Establish countdown on desktop that tracks time until bedtime Sunday evening. Being able to see the light at the end tunnel will help get me to the finish line. Check.

7. Create secret hiding spot that I can go to when we play hide and go seek over and over again. Finding the perfect spot may lead to not being found for hours and able to catch a quick nap. Check.

8. Make all important phone calls before girls get here. Nothing worse than starting a conversation with another adult only to be interrupted by having to scream at the girls to stop jumping from the top of the stairs, pulling each others hair out, digging for treasure in the fireplace, or anything that will lead to a trip to the ER or hours of cleanup. Don't want a friend or loved one thinking that I don't have control of my kids. Check.

9. Hide female roommates make-up products, scissors, and permanent markers. There will be no daddy makeovers, uninvited hair cuts, or art work on walls, tables, or hardwood floor. Check.

10. Offer incentive program to roommates to leave the house for the weekend. One took the bait of free utilities for the month by heading to San Diego, while the other will most certainly leave after a few minutes of seeing the chaos the weekend will offer. Can't afford to lose a roommate because they can't handle my kids. Check.

11. Have access to extra-strength Tylenol on hand at all times. Headaches are sure to come early and often. Check.

12. Continue to remind myself that my girls are the most important thing in my life. Their happiness depends on my behavior. Won't always be easy to remember, but I am counting on those moments when one of them says or does something that is so damn cute and perfect that I will have to scoop them and up and hold them as tightly as possible. Check.

Wish me luck as I proclaim myself ready for the weekend. Who knows what will happen, but I am sure there will be something to write about Sunday after they are in bed.

18 comments:

  1. Good luck, our daughter decided that a door mural would look good on our bedroom door. It looks worse than you can imagine.

    I would suggest more than one DVD...maybe get the boredom factor down.

    ---Lane

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  2. Glad you decided to blog today after all... it was a good one :). And now, I'm GONE! Later, 'gator.

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  3. Best of luck! Good that you hid the makeup as I'm sure you'd wake up to a lovely makeover!!! You've got a great list though, so I think you are set. Can't wait to hear about the end result of this weekend.

    Btw, thanks for the comment on Aloha Friday. I appreciate it. Can I just say, you made a huge accomplishment with your weight loss so CONGRATS to you!!!!

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  4. I want to know where your hiding spot is. I could use one everyday of the week!

    If there was time, I'd suggest cooking ahead of time, freezing, and then only having to deal with defrosting. Might make life easier!

    Good luck.

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  5. Can I have that mental health helpline number too, please?! A delightfully funny snapshot of your weekend, Coachdad!

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  6. Laugh. good luck with it all.. your more structured than me, I could never get a plantogether or one that any paid the slightest attention to... Keep em busy... and find a quiet space for you now and then... Have a great weekend... Abz

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  7. you are WAY more outnumbered than i'd ever wish to be! and all girls... holy crap.

    i need a secret hiding spot at my house!

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  8. as if you could EVER be prepared for all those girls?
    muahahahahahaha!

    Just try to enjoy them. You can rest when you get back to work on Monday.

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  9. Aaaw, how fun! I used to live in this strange flatshare situation (just before I started my blog so sadly not chronicled) where I shared with an accountant my own age and this other accountant who owned the house and only came over every second weekend when he had his kids. He was otherwise living with this mentalist girlfriend who hated his children.. go figure. So every 2nd weekend, kids and nuthouse, but at all other times, massive house and garden all to ourselves, very cheap. It rocked. Hope you are having a great weekend!

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  10. Single moms checklist for surviving the weekend when kids are at their dads!!
    1) Get lots of wine..check
    2) call up girlfriends for a night out...check
    3) actually open and drink the wine..check
    4) clean house and know it will stay that way until monday...check
    5) read all the blogs I want without feeling even a twing of guilt...check

    thanks for the fun post .. enjoy your weekend!!

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  11. Hello Coachdad, Thanks for stopping by my blog. Your girls are gorgeous! You certainly have your hands full. I feel your pain but I'm not doing it single. Not sure how you keep it together.

    Its great to see a dad blogger. :-)

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  12. I don't know how the hell you do it!!! You are seriously my hero.

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  13. There's the reason why I stopped at 2 girls: I'm outnumbered 95% of the time!

    I have discovered that a 3.5 year old can peel carrots; the 5 year old can't peel apples/potatoes yet but can chop apples (for apple sauce for our pork roast); they both like to chop veggies (with a cutting board). They like making salads too (washing, chopping and ripping).

    My philosophy: if I can't beat them, I recruit them. Hopefully they'll be making complete dinners soon!

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  14. It's always good to have a back-up plan!

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  15. Seriously, Having the kids on my own was tough when I got divorced. I feel your pain

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  16. Wonderful checklist! It gave me a good laugh. I hope you survived the weekend.

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