how do single moms do it?

I had a sweet group of kids over at my house today - we're doing a preschool camp since Liam's school is out for the month of August. Chris is going out of town for a few days, and I already feel so overwhelmed - not ostensibly from the kids - they were actually incredibly sweet, and we had a great day - my lack of prep paid off - I followed their lead

- They wanted to play monsters, so I played mommy monster for awhile, and I read them a monster book.

-When they were outside, they started hitting our fruit trees with giant pieces of wood to cut it down - and I let them use our saw to prune them a bit. We took the long branches and had a parade and then used them to outline a baseball diamond.

-We did yoga and let them make up poses.

No, I don't usually get this part of parenthood - readers of this blog know that I often get frustrated thinking that I "should" play legos with Liam for hours - but I really hate it - I always forget that the best for both of us is when I incorporate them into something that I enjoy doing.

But after being stuck in the house all day - I stupidly decided to roast a chicken, keeping me trapped in the house after naps/before dinner - I had had enough - and then Chris called b/c he had to leave work on the late side and then called again b/c he got stuck in traffic - so he'd be home for an hour before taking off for the airport.

I knew that the kids would insist that I help put them to bed, so what did I do with these motherly obligations - I took off - took a walk and picked up some hot chocolate and a cookie...