The Only Parent

I had been at work about two hours this morning when the school nurse called to tell me Leah was in the clinic complaining of an upset stomach. This is when I really feel being the only parent. I had to leave work and go pick her up and stay home with her today. Fortunately she seems to feel better after some soup for lunch and resting a little on the couch. Because she refused to eat breakfast this morning I personally think she was just hungry. I usually make her at least eat a cereal bar in the car but I was out of them this morning.

One of my co-workers asked if a member of my family couldn't go get her but as I told her, they don't want to babysit a sick child. That's when I told her that I no longer refer to myself as a single parent but as an only parent. After a moment you could see the light bulb go on in her head. She agreed that even if I were divorced that at least my ex could help care for her. It makes it difficult in terms of working full time but hopefully my performance helps to make up for the times I have to be out when she is sick. At least at the moment I'm not too worried about it as I'll be giving my notice in a week. Unlike when I moved down here, I am going to take the last week before I leave off instead of trying to work until the moment I get on the interstate. When I was in the process of moving here, I counted down the days in terms of how many days until the move was over. This time I'm counting down the days until I'm back home. A very big difference. I don't think I'm going to budge out of Tennessee once I get back. I did not come close to realizing how much that place became home to me over the past 10 years. I've moved all of my life and have never had a problem getting settled but this time has been difficult. I have met people here that I will miss but I have a lot of people that I can't wait to see again.

I'm going to take advantage of this unexpected time at home and get some things done.