Single Mom

Ian left today. He's scheduled to be gone for one month working on a movie officially called Untitled Genre Project. Poor sod is stuck in Hawaii while I get to luxuriate in the summer heat of Los Angeles in our ramshackle, non-air-conditioned duplex with a toddler in the throes of early onset terrible twos.

It's actually Ian's second out-of-town assignment for this same project. Last time was 11 days in New Mexico. And Jackson and I survived (with a little help from my mom). Ian asked me how I felt about his absence this time around. I told him that the net effect was zero. I'm more anxious about the longer period of time (and sad about not seeing my sweetie for a whole month), but feel more confident that I can do it, having done it for 11 days already.

But it helps to know that in a month, he'll be back again. I just don't know how single moms do it for years on end. I just can't imagine not being able to share the load AND the joys of parenthood with another. One of the other moms at Jackson's daycare once joked that whenever her husband was out of town, leaving her alone with the kids, she always greeted him on his return with the declaration that her resolve never to divorce him strengthened with each experience with single parenthood. I definitely prefer parenting with a partner.

So hurry home, my dear. There's so much to share. It's only been one day so far (out of the thirty-something to come), but you've already missed out on Jackson releasing a squirt of diarrhea on his bedroom floor AND the cute anecdote about how he greeted his little friends Chris and Anusha today.

Clarice