Breakfast for Dinner

Parenthood Magazine is running a series on divorced parents working together to raise their children that turns out to be a pretty good read. It’s nice to see a parenting magazine not aimed exclusively to 1950s families from the Hamptons or just moms and not ignoring the needs of divorced people. I especially like their rule number 2 in the opening article:

Respect each other as parents. You’re likely to have a lot of bad feelings toward your former partner, but you need to separate your parenting from those feelings. Your goal is to create a good life for your children, and you can best do that by parenting together in a respectful, cooperative manner.

As much hurt feelings as there may be in a divorce, and there always is, you have to set that aside when dealing with your children. It’s not easy I know, but believe me, it’s worth the struggle.

The girls and I spent about three hours walking around in the blistering sun eating fried crap on a stick and petting camels. That’s right, The Great State Fair of Texas. I had never been to the State Fair before, so I decided it was about high time I made it, and the girls deserved a treat for adjusting to their new schedules.

We got to the parking lot for the fair around 12:20, and managed to meander our way to the ticket booth by 1 p.m. We had to park about three miles away, and the line for the shuttle would have taken longer than the walk, so we opted to hoof it. I hoisted Wu Tang onto my shoulders, and she proceeded to pet my beard like a puppy as she always does when I let her ride. It was a brutal walk, but we got lucky when we got in line to buy tickets. A nice Japanese woman had extra tickets from her school district and slipped them to me as we got in line, so I only had to pay for my admission, a cool $14. Read the rest of this entry →

It’s been a long while since I updated, so it’s time to get back to it. It’s been an insane month between work and family issues, so it was nice to dedicate last weekend to really doing things with my kids. Our swimming trip Saturday got sidelined by a kid pooping in the pool, but we had a nice barbecue with friends and neighbors that night.

Sunday we found my daughters’ version of heaven. Bounce World in Flower Mound is three big air conditioned rooms full of bounce houses, inflatable slides, and obstacles. We spent about two hours letting the kids run around like little maniacs to their heart’s content. And afterwards, they fell asleep by 8 p.m., so I was able to relax and watch normal television that didn’t involve a talking sponge and enjoy a beer.

Labor Day, the girls were with their mom, so I helped a friend and had some lunch at Chopsticks. Then was treated to a very nice dinner of Cashew Chicken and chocolate chip cookies. It was the kind of impromptu dinner party I could use more of.

This was a very good week. I finally worked up the courage to ask my boss for a new schedule at work to allow me to work from home one day a week. The compromise we came up with was that I will work nine hour days Tuesday-Friday, and in return, will work a four-hour Monday at home, allowing me to spend the afternoon with the kids, cut one day of babysitting from my budget and the $6 or so worth of gas I would spend commuting that day. I’m very excited.

Wednesday night we decided to put some peaches left over from the potluck to good use by making our first ever peach pie. It turned out pretty well considering we needed more peaches and had to resort to some individual snack-sized cans of peaches in the pantry for filler. It was a little oversweet, but no one complained.

Then, tonight we had a fun movie night. We interviewed another applicant for the babysitter position, then headed for McDonald’s for Happy Meals (it’s a rare treat when I let them eat Happy Meals). After dinner, I drug my mattress out of my bedroom and onto the living room floor. Then we popped in Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium and snuggled under a blanket. The girls liked it despite the sad portion in the middle, and they both made it all the way through, though Finley fell asleep pretty much the second it was over.

It was a pretty special week. This weekend we have one more interview planned before we make a decision on a new babysitter, and we may head to the waterpark if we can handle the 102 degree heat until we get there.

Saturday is officially “Chigger Eradication Day”. I bought a large hose sprayer bottle of poison, and I’m gonna let it fly early in the a.m. Saturday. If anyone has a WWI-era gas mask they want to loan me, shoot me an e-mail. That should freak out the neighbors, but good.

Approximately 24 hours after what can only be described as a singularly successful potluck, fate reared its ugly head in the form of eight little legs and one word: chiggers. Everyone at the potluck Saturday is now scratching uncontrollably and probably cursing the day they agreed to break bread in my backyard.

I won’t get too vivid, but suffice it to say, the little bastards got rather intimate with me, and I have a couple itches that are kind of fun to scratch. Hopefully, a huge bottle of bug poison and an industrial-sized can of Off! will be enough to convince people to return in a few weeks when I decide to do this again.

After the last potluck disaster where we had no lights for about two hours, I thought I had broken the spell and recovered some of my hosting pride. Now it looks like a short-lived fantasy that has been beaten down by a tiny member of the arachnid family.

And because Merrie gave me grief last night for advertising for them, I present the two newest smoking hot, on fire, sex kitten, single moms in Denton.

Last night’s potluck was a smashing success. We had around 20 people in and out and a ridiculous amount of great food. A special thanks to Allen for smoking ribs, Meredith and Carolyn for the great desserts, and as always Jefe for manning the grill and all his prep work.

The girls had a great time seeing their friends from Austin that they don’t get to see nearly enough, and I had a wonderful time relaxing with good friends, new friends, and a couple guys I’d never met before in my life. It was by far the biggest turnout yet for a potluck here, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves enough to come back again in the future. The weather was hot as always but not unbearable and for the most part the bugs kept their distance.

I don’t think I’ve had a better evening in years. Check out the photos from last night, by visiting my Picasa album.

Two of my friends finalized their divorces in the last couple weeks, and mine is officially nearing its end, so this weekend’s potluck is going to be a full blown celebration of the single parent. Steaks, chicken, hot dogs for the kiddos, and the beer will flow like wine once the children are snuggled up in their beds. It’ll be nice to feel like there’s something to celebrate.

I’m even thinking about baking a cake. I’m not sure how to decorate a “Happy Divorce” cake. Anyone have any ideas?

Of course, it’s not really a happy occasion, but definitely a relieving one. Hopefully, we can send the two newest hot single moms in Denton out into the world in style.

Wherever you are this Saturday, tip your glass to single parenthood. There will be about 10-15 people here in my backyard doing just that.