Hey everyone! I have three kids, ages 6, 8, and 10. They are with me from Fri after school, until Tuesday evening. They usually spend holidays with me because my family does the traditional holiday celebrating, while there dads' family doesn't really do much. They see him at some point but it is usually worked around my familys celebrations. Just some quick background, their dad has always been good about taking them a couple days a week so I can work. He has chosen to be a struggling tattoo artist and generally lives with family or friends. He is good about child support when he is earning a living, but much of the time he makes poor choices that don't lead to that. Last Jan he opened a tattoo shop, so after 6 months(prev) of sporadic child support I filed. Since then he has had several court hearings and is getting further and further behind. Anyways, I am not trying to bash him, I think he thinks he trying, but it's stressful cause his situation is somewhat unstable. So back to the story; The kids and I went to see their grandparents in florida(on dads side) for ten days right before christmas. We got home on the 21st. When we got back their dad asked if he could have them Cmas eve night. My family celebrates on Cmas eve and as I wasn't ready, at all, for cmas I reluctantly agreed. It was to have been my first cmas morning without them, ever. I made plans to spend the day with my ex boyfriend, cause I knew he would be alone on cmas and I knew he wouldn't mind helping me get the house ready for the kids to come back on Saturday. I said earlier that I wasn't ready for cmas and I meant it! We had stuff from the trip everywhere and by cmas eve I had spent a total of $30 at the Salvo on gifts for the kids(a very successful shopping trip, mind you
) I had gone grocery shopping that same night so at least I had food, but there was stuff everywhere! And I have three cats, so you can imagine how dirty my house was after being gone for ten days. So anyways, fast forward to cmas eve, 6pm. I pick the kids up from their dads, and he asks me if Wal-mart was open. I didn't know and told him to call. Then on the way to my aunts, my daughter Bella starts telling my that 'if daddy can get to the store, they are going to have *blank* for breakfast' and 'lots of presents'. Then she starts to cry and ask me about Santa coming to Daddys. I told her that I didn't know how it worked but that I know he is coming to my house, I just didn't know if he made multiple stops. You can imagine the pit in my stomach that is starting to grow. I turn on some cmas music and that made her feel better. We go to my aunts and have a good time, but the whole time I am thinking, oh no, what if he doesn't have anything for them?! So before we leave(it's about 9:30pm) I decide to call him and see what he is planning. I ask him straight up, did you get to the store? No. Well what are you going to do? I tell him how disappointed they are going to be and he says, 'well I just thought my presence would be enough' ok maybe if you are a magical person and have amazing food and fun and games planned, you could get away with that, but he isn't and I knew exactly how it would go, they would be crushed and he would get irritated and they would all have a horrible day. So I convinced him to let them come home with me, but I was wondering how I was going to pull it off. Anyways, I went home and put the kids to bed and by now its pushing 11. So I call C, my ex, and tell him I need him to come over NOW! He came over and somehow we pulled off this amazing cmas. He had presents for the kids, and also stuff that a mutual friend had given him for the kids. I had the stuff from the salvo, presents from two close friends and some stuff that another friend had given me for them. We basically focused on the living room, making it look nice, and wrapped everything we could find. Actually I think we had some extra stuff that ended up in the basement. The living room looked awesome when the kids got up, and I felt like Supermom. It really showed me that if something needs to be done, I am up for it, especially when it comes to my kids. I don't always like being in this position, but I am in it, and all I can hope is that someday their dad comes around because it feels really amazing to be able to take care of business. Happy New Year everyone! and what doesn't kill you really does make you stronger
) I had gone grocery shopping that same night so at least I had food, but there was stuff everywhere! And I have three cats, so you can imagine how dirty my house was after being gone for ten days. So anyways, fast forward to cmas eve, 6pm. I pick the kids up from their dads, and he asks me if Wal-mart was open. I didn't know and told him to call. Then on the way to my aunts, my daughter Bella starts telling my that 'if daddy can get to the store, they are going to have *blank* for breakfast' and 'lots of presents'. Then she starts to cry and ask me about Santa coming to Daddys. I told her that I didn't know how it worked but that I know he is coming to my house, I just didn't know if he made multiple stops. You can imagine the pit in my stomach that is starting to grow. I turn on some cmas music and that made her feel better. We go to my aunts and have a good time, but the whole time I am thinking, oh no, what if he doesn't have anything for them?! So before we leave(it's about 9:30pm) I decide to call him and see what he is planning. I ask him straight up, did you get to the store? No. Well what are you going to do? I tell him how disappointed they are going to be and he says, 'well I just thought my presence would be enough' ok maybe if you are a magical person and have amazing food and fun and games planned, you could get away with that, but he isn't and I knew exactly how it would go, they would be crushed and he would get irritated and they would all have a horrible day. So I convinced him to let them come home with me, but I was wondering how I was going to pull it off. Anyways, I went home and put the kids to bed and by now its pushing 11. So I call C, my ex, and tell him I need him to come over NOW! He came over and somehow we pulled off this amazing cmas. He had presents for the kids, and also stuff that a mutual friend had given him for the kids. I had the stuff from the salvo, presents from two close friends and some stuff that another friend had given me for them. We basically focused on the living room, making it look nice, and wrapped everything we could find. Actually I think we had some extra stuff that ended up in the basement. The living room looked awesome when the kids got up, and I felt like Supermom. It really showed me that if something needs to be done, I am up for it, especially when it comes to my kids. I don't always like being in this position, but I am in it, and all I can hope is that someday their dad comes around because it feels really amazing to be able to take care of business. Happy New Year everyone! and what doesn't kill you really does make you stronger
