First Day Solo

So today was the big day of me managing three kids for the first time by myself. I admit I was close to tears as we waved goodbye to Daddy this morning. But Aubrey got to school on time and I even remembered that it was teacher appreciation week. I got Addison down for a morning nap and managed to play two games of Mousetrap with Natalie. I snuck in a tiny power nap while she watched Little Einsteins. I felt so proud when I gave myself enough time to get a bottle ready before we left to get Aubrey from school. I was feeling cool, calm and so in control. This was doable, I could do this. Picked up Aubrey from school, she had a great day--fantastic. I had even managed to get Aubrey to do most of her homework over the weekend so I knew we just had about 30 minutes of review to do after snack. And now the critical moment had arrived, the hour I had most feared all day; homework time. I had come up with a great activity for Natalie, Aubrey's work was all ready to go, the only variable was Addison. Things started well, she ate while the girls had their snack. Then things started to deteriorate quickly. She didn't like sitting in my lap while I helped the girls with their work and she went from sweet baby to uncontrollable rage in just a few short minutes. I felt my sanity dissolving. I kept trying the pacifier as Aubrey yelled her flashcard words over her sister's wails of protest. And then Aubrey gave me the look and said "you're getting frustrated aren't you?" Oh yes, I was. And then a moment of sheer inspiration came, swaddle her. So I papoosed that munchkin just as snug as I could and you know what, she fell asleep in about 2 minutes. And now here it is quarter after 7pm, I managed to feed my family a meal that didn't come from a box, I have Natalie in the tub, Aubrey at Taekwondo and a content baby. I have a reasonably clean house and I'm even getting a blog post up. Not bad for my first day solo. I make no guarantees about the rest of the week but today I did okay.