Top 5 Tips for Surviving a Solo Parenting Weekend

Marc is away on a business trip and I am trying to hold down the fort as best I can on my own for a while. This in and of itself isn't incredibly interesting, but I'm participating in "31 Days to Build a Better Blog" with someone of my fellow Boston Parent Bloggers, and today's assignment is to write a list post. (Yesterday's was to work on your elevator pitch - anyone catch the new tagline on their way to this post?) I have to admit I am a fan of the list post...within limits. Not too long, definitely no slideshows, and preferably the extended list format that I'm about to employ below. So here goes. And yes, I'm pretty much making this up as I go along.

Here are my Top 5 Tips for Surviving a Solo Parenting Weekend.

1) Get some alone time before it even happens. For me, that was a trip to Target on Friday night. Alone. Yes, I know how to live it up! But seriously, a shopping trip was exactly what I needed, as I was able to get all those random odds and ends that were rattling around my brain into my cart. Which brings me to my next point.

2) Tape. Lots of tape. Or whatever your child's favorite non-messy crafting supply might be. I bought Max six new rolls of tape from the dollar bins and the kid is as happy as can be. Max can keep busy designing any number of things with his tape, from a "cast" on the paw of his Pillow Pet to giant pirate ships from multiple sheets of paper. Tape is fairly non-destructive and cheap, so you really can't wrong.

3) Eat what YOU like. Last night we hit the Mexican restaurant that's a bit of a pain to get to, and since Mexican isn't one of Marc's favorites, we went and ate chips and salsa til our taste buds burned. Tonight, I put out a bowl of uncooked carrots, and the kids tried to crunch as loud as they could, but it made them laugh and they ate a lot more than usual. This is the chance to do something outside the norm and relax.

4) Be a little more lax on bedtime. Those extra minutes mean so much to my kids and don't cost me much. Now I'm not saying throw out your whole schedule, but 10 minutes sounds like an awful lot to a nearly five year old. Who (ahem) also slept in my bed last night. It was a special treat, and he knows he goes back to his room tonight, but the extra bit of good will made him miss Daddy a little bit less. But tonight?

5) Put clean sheets on your bed. Really. I know it's one of those chores you might be tempted to skip when there's so much extra to do on your plate, but getting into a bed with clean sheets is one of the best sensations ever. So when you're finally done putting the kids to bed and all of the other chores are accomplished, you get to experience that moment of bliss of getting a nice clean bed - all to yourself.

So there are my tips. What would you add?