Down to 1

For the last 3 days, I have had only one child.

Caden went to the lake with my Dad. It was exactly what I needed.

He's a tough kid. He's a great kid, but he's a tough kid. I was at my absolute end with him.

My mom has been at the lake since last monday. I was texting her on Thursday, complaining about Caden. Ok ok i was telling her that I was on my way ti thesuperstore to sell him, but whatever. Sure, he had a .25 sticker on him. But I wasn't serious...was I??

She comes up with the idea that I should send Caden with my dad the next day, Friday. I said no, no, no. I did not want to wreck their time together.

My mom is up there with a bunch of her friends, and all of their kids. She has her own 2 bedroom cabin. She told me she really really really wanted Caden to come up. She wanted to have a kid there too. (yeah right). I continued to say no. Thats how we ended the talk on Thursday.

Friday, my moms friend texts me to send Caden up. I end up chatting with her on FB for a while and she says that my mom really wants Caden to come up.

Now you may be asking yourself, why would I ever say no to sending one of my kids away with grandparents for a weekend. Well, remember that we live at their house ok. Which means my mom is with my kids ALL THE TIME!!!
But, like my moms friend pointed out, she had had 5 days with no kids, and will have another 5 days without kids once Caden leaves.

So I continued to ponder the idea. I hated feeling like she had offered just because I was complaining about Caden. Had it been just random, I woulda said yes right away. But then she wouldn't have offered had she not really wanted him to come.

And as much as I hate to say it, Caden is sooooo much better for other people, when I'm not around. I remember that about kids that I babysat for. They were always so good for me, but not so good when parents were around. I always said I wouldn't have kids like that. Hah! Eating my own words, thats for sure.

Anyway, Caden woke up from his nap at 4:00. I knew that once I told him, there was no turning back.
'Caden, how would you like to fishing with Papa?'
'YEAH!!!!!!!'

Then it was over. He asked a few questions, like what he needed to bring, who was gonna be there, and which boat papa was gonna take, cause he really didn't wanna take the little one cause that ones not fun.

I told him we needed to pack. While I was busy with Avery, he went downstairs. Next time I see him, he's got his bed blanket in the living room. From his bed downstairs. He was ready.
So I went down with him and started putting things on the bed to pack in the suitcase. He grabbed everything and stuck it in the suitcase until I finally had to tell him to slow down.

'Mommy, is Papa home yet?'
'Nope, sorry buddy, not yet.'
'Well, I'm just gonna go check'

And he runs upstairs and goes outside to check. I peeked out at him and he was sitting on the driveway just waiting for Papa's truck.
He was there for a couple minutes. Then back inside.
'Papa's not home yet'

He did this 3 times before Papa was finally home.

As soon as his truck was on the driveway, Caden got his booster seat out of the van, put it in the truck, and sat in it. He told me he was gonna wait there till Papa was ready. I told him it would be a long time and he shouldn't wait in the truck cause he had a long drive ahead of him yet. So he got out, helped (hindered) Papa packing and finally they were ready to go.

Caden comes walking up to me and says,

'Mommy, I'm gonna be away from you for a long long time cause I'm going fishing with Papa'

I hugged him, kissed him, told him I loved him and buckled him in for his 4 hour ride to the lake.

Now, I miss him. I missed him about a half hour after he was gone. He's on his way home now but won't be home till around midnight. I told my Dad if I was sleeping when he got back, to just put Caden in bed.

But who am I kidding. I'm gonna stay awake till he gets home cause I wanna see him and I know I'll get a big smile and a big hug.

Sometimes I wanna strangle, sell, give away, etc my kids. But I love them. And time away from them is just what is needed. Caden is a tough kid. He's busy, active, crazy, wild, happy, big attitude, doesn't always listen, rarely listens, beats on his sister, loves his sister, misses his sister, wants his sister at the lake with him after being away from her for 1 day, smart, funny, oh so cute and I am in love with him.

I will remind myself of that tomorrow when I am at the end of my rope with him.