Solo parenting for 3 weeks: I did it!

Six years ago, I honestly couldn’t fathom how mothers of more than one kid did it let alone SOLO PARENT THREE OF THEM for THREE weeks. Send me into a coma why dontcha. I did panic inside my brain when Scott mentioned the fact he was thinking of going on that said trip.

Can you imagine? The thought of keeping everyone happy, fed, and alive, especially with school schedules thrown in the mix, felt crazy hard to me, man. How do you manage to entertain a toddler and a 4 year old while also getting the oldest to school and back? Well friends, I did it and it honestly wasn’t bad at all. Sent them all to bed super early every night, so I could unwind for at least an hour before I went to bed.

Scott, good ol’ Scott went over to Copenhagen  – to Europe his first time over there at all so he decided to make the most of it, and why not right? Who knows when he or I will be back over that ocean. Go for it buddy.

Let’s get back to me. ha. Like I said, honestly, it wasn’t as hard—or as bad—as I’d imagined. I won’t pretend it was a breeze, but I had some solo-mama-survival ideas up my sleeve. My car became my primary mode of transportation. I usually walk everywhere with the stroller, but preserving my sanity and energy(because it was getting hot in the days) became the priority. So, drives: everywhere. A trip to McDonalds, Pizza My Heart and the boys first time to In-N-Out, perfect supper plans. More movies than I’d care to admit, and blessedly early bedtimes became the norm. I even started to think, “I can do this again!” (Shhh, don’t tell Scott).

The biggest hurdle for me was the complete lack of down time (okay minus the early bed times and having a moment to myself) but as Mama’s know, the instant you try to sneak away during the day time to get 5 mins of peace, or even to pee by yourself without someone hammerin’ on the door looking for ya was…. a bit much.

Anyway pals, I learned that I’m stronger and more capable than I ever imagined. I can totally do that again. I just need to be prepared. Now it’s time for me to think of a plan to get away for a bit. Anyone want a visitor??? :)

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Exploring Bay Area Playgrounds: Brigadoon Park

Brigadoon Park
Brigadoon Way and Maloney Drive
San Jose, California 95121

Whoa, Brigadoon Park playground is a gem in the Evergreen neighbourhood of San Jose. The concrete slides is something to marvel at. Quite an impressive trio, and I admit, intimidating at first glance. If you’re a daredevil and want to go down the slide faster, use the litter (ahem I mean….cardboard) that others had brought, and left there. The hill to walk up to the slides is quite the hike, but it didn’t stop my older guy from going down and not playing much on the structures at all – he’s a slide kinda kid. Don’t blame him, really.

There are 2 play structures, and under the bridge and through the wood chips there’s a large set of swings (8 or so?).

Note, there are no bathrooms on site. Had to leave this one early because we had to use one. Oops.

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Exploring Bay Area Playgrounds: Muwékma Park

Check out more Bay Area Playground posts here!

Muwékma Park
1035 Indian Wells Ave, Sunnyvale, CA 94085

Muwékma Park is a dedication to the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area. The newest playground in the Bay Area is 6.5 acres big. This is an accessible playground and officially opened at the end of July. When we visited, it didn’t even have a name yet!

This playground has a customplay structure designed to mimic a tree house with the largest transplanted redwood becoming the centre of the playground (info source: eptdesign). Each “tree house” is connected by a series of ramps making the play structure wheelchair accessible. My boys (20 months, and 4 years old) enjoyed it, but I definitely had to keep an eye on my little one as one of the structures (shown below) wasn’t the safest for someone who doesn’t know what danger/falling is just yet, ha.

Alongside the play area of the park there’s a huge grassy field and a path for your biking or scooterin’ needs. Next to that there’s an enclosed dog park to bring your pup, too. Clean/new bathrooms on site.

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