Hi there,
I don't know if I have a right to post this under the "single parent" forum but I didn't know where else to post it. My husband is gone for 6 months for work (literally won't walk foot in our door until december) he's a fairly hands on dad, and I have become accustom to that. Having him home in the evenings was a break enough for me as we shared our parenting duties. My son is 13.5 months, I have been back at work for 2 months now working part time. My son is a very busy boy, he's into everything, I feel like he's in those "terrible twos" moments already, if this isn't it I'm scared outa my mind for what is to come. He won't sit still, if he needs to stay still he throws a tantrum. He just constantly is on the move and I can't keep him busy with toys he's into everything else. He is my first child and he is great in so many other ways, he sleeps through the night, he's not a picky eater but right now I'm really finding him a challenge. What's worse is that my husband is gone and half been for 1.5 months. I honestly feel like this is the "worst" it's been for my son in the sense where I feel short tempered. Like I said he was a great baby, I don't think I realized how easy he was, now he's just crazy and I'm not coping and now I'm doing it on my own. I have several (like 10) friends with kids around the same age, though they are all girls they seem to be more.... Chill. Not so wound up, happy to sit and cuddle. I miss the days when my son wasn't crawling and walking lol. They all have spouses that are also hands on so they don't seem to get my frustration that's building. I work and I feel like those 12 hrs days (I'm a nurse) are literally my break, but it is also a high stress and very physically demanding job. My mom is somewhat around but my father has Alzheimer's which is becoming more demanding on her, she can only help so much. I really don't have any support and other than my day care I can't afford a sitter to give me a break. My breaks are when he's in bed or napping. And let's face it, he has those bad days too. I just don't know how single moms can cope with doing this on their own, I feel like I'm falling apart at the seams. I can feel my self loosing more patience and I've always been a fairly patient person. Not all days are bad, it's usually those days where he didn't nap properly or when I got off a night and had nobody around to let me have a nap so I'm exhausted (he always seems to be more needy and cranky those days- probably since I'm not playing with him as much as I should be) I have 4.75 more months to go and it's literally the only thing holding me together is that I know this 6 months is just temporary and it's a one time thing. I just don't understand how people are doing it. All you single parents are amazing because I'm struggling with doing this temporarily. How do you cope with having no me time? Lack of socializing... I find it hard to get down town because he's just needing to get into everything, yet if I stay home I get antsy and feel the need to get out! Help any one to talk with and vent to I think would help, I'm just feeling so defeated at the moment. ↓
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