I've finally started to get into the grove of this commuter-wife thing. There have been a few moments where I've broken down into tears because of exhaustion and a feeling of lack of support, but all-in-all, I've turned this lemon-esque situation into a big ol' vat of lemonade.
Consider the changes I'm making (or have made):
- The kids and I adopted two 1-year old cats. (shown below). We didn't intend to adopt two. Even before the hospitalization, I'd talked about us getting a playmate for our current kitty -- Puppy Cat. Once the stepkid was stablized, we set out to PetSmart one Sunday and found the local Humane Society's most adorable twin tabbies. I should add they look exactly like our current cat which is hilarious when they're all together. We're all getting along well and the scamper of little paws around the house at night reminds me that I'm not totally alone in this house.
- I'm taking Karate. My first official breakup 10 years ago turned me on to kickboxing. Seeing my stepson graduate from his pre-white belt class stirred the urge again and I'm signing up for a Wednesday night Adult Karate class. HI-YAH!!!!!!!
- I've been going to bed at 8; waking up at 4. Okay, I'm not too proud of this one and I really hope it stops soon because I think it's contributing to my mid-day exhaustion festival.
- My house feels organized. 'nuff said.
- I'm getting the itch to write a book about stepmotherdom. Maybe it's because a lot of my stepmom friends are wrapping up their first books or maybe it's because I find writing cathartic, but I'm tossing around ideas in my brain about what the book would be about and what I'd call it. So far, I've got The Stepmom Experiment: My Misadventures in Stepparenting with pages filled with my conversion from stepdaughter to single girl to stepmom and what I've done -- personally as well as electronically -- to help other women in the same position.
Do you find that you're more productive when everyone's out of the house?
2 comments:
This exhaustion you're feeling of being the sole parent in the house? Maybe the silver lining is it will allow you to relate better to the step-children's birth mom. Doing it all on your own is never easy and I give you credit for all you've accomplished!
That could be a reason. The kids' mom and I actually think we both have a case of caretaker burnout because she's feeling the same way.
We're really lucky to be able to lean on each other.
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