A last-minute business trip took Chris to Calgary for a couple days, leaving me and the boys on our own. I wasn’t looking forward to doing the single mom thing, but I had a lot of help from the in-laws, and it actually wasn’t too bad. Justin is very attached to his dad and I thought we’d have some trouble that way, but neither kid really seemed to care that it was just Mom. Justin would occasionally ask where Daddy was, but I just said Dad was on a trip, and he seemed to accept that. If Chris was expecting a joyful welcome upon his return, he was slightly disappointed — Justin just looked up from his bedtime snack and said, “Oh, hi, Dad,” as if he’d never been away. Kids.

We’re well into the fall activities now, and it’s making me appreciate the days when we don’t have to rush out of the house first thing in the morning (I can only imagine how much worse it would be if I was trying to shlep the kids off to daycare every day). I’ve started leaving Justin with a babysitting service once a week while Brayden has a play group, and it’s working out really well — I’ve never left Justin with anyone besides family before and I wanted him to get used to being without Mom for a while. I’m also taking both boys to a drop-in play school thing once a week, and it’s nice to see how they just start playing and take no notice of me at all. So at least we know there are no separation issues!

All of which is good, because Chris and I are off to San Diego in a couple weeks. I can’t wait for this vacation, even though Chris has to leave it half a day early to fly directly to Regina for another business trip (sigh). If the boys are OK with Grandma and Grandpa Kingwell staying with them for a few days, we might have hope of doing another short getaway sometime next year. Dare to dream.