Parenting 101

Being a single parent is hard. I can’t even imagine how some people put up with the crap that they have to in order to get anything done when I sure as hell can't handle my kids without some support. Being home with Stepson and Daughter for most of the day yesterday just about killed me. By the end I was moody, quick to anger, and had just “had it” more times than I could count. I finally took them to the pool for the 2nd time that day just to get some peace. I can sit and watch as they play, Daughter swims with her arm floaties, and they leave me in relative peace.

Now, by themselves these two are fine and I’m quite happy to with them for most of the day, but as soon as they get together it’s WWIII. They pick on each other, yell, cry, fight, argue, and flat out annoy the shit out of me. Basically they’re being brother and sister.

Dammit.

I see other people with 3 or more kids - single moms/ dads with multiple children - and have to wonder how in hell they don’t end up driving their cars into utility poles while the demons fight in the backseat over some piece of paper or similiarly trivial object.

By the time Wife came home from work yesterday I was mad, at the kids as well as at her - simply for working extra hours to earn some additional income. Mad at her for the same thing I do when I’m on hard rotations with the exception being that when I stay late I'm not making any extra money. Talk about being a hypocrite.