All alone

I remember wondering why my friend Sandra would go alone to a get together, leaving her husband with the girls. I thought, "wow, that marriage is suffering." Well, now I know why she did it. When you become a mother, if you don't divide and conquer, your friends might never see you again. 

It  always broke my heart the many times my brother and sister in law would miss out on great concerts and parties because my niece would get a cold. I would say, "how can that happen every time they want to go out". 

Well, here I am. After planning a weekend full of activities with my husband and daughter, I have them in locked down with a bad cold. So there I was at my friend's daughter's baptism all by myself. I never thought about not going, neither did Steve. My friend Veronica has left her girls with their Dad many times to come to my things. Three baby showers in 2 months to say the least. I had to be at this Christening. I missed my family the entire time I was there,  but I happy to be there. But when picture time came, I made Vero and her husband be in the picture with me so I didn't look like an orphan. It's ironic that now I have a family of three and I end up alone in the picture.

We also had a pot luck dinner planned for Friday evening. I was in charge of dessert. My friend Nina invited us a month in advance. I had booked a babysitter. It was going to be a fun, adult evening that would cost us very little and give us the distraction Steve and I really need. He got laid off 2 weeks ago after spending 2 and half years busting his ass at a job, working late nights and missing a lot of time with our daughter. But that's another story. So needless to say, we needed some laughs with some friends.

Friday came around, our friend couldn't babysit due to a family emergency, plus Amelia caught her first bad cold. I could have left her with her nanny but that would have cost me more than the night out.  Nina offered babysitting options but I just didn't feel right leaving her with a stranger while she sneezed and coughed. 

I won't lie, the weekend hasn't been fun. I caught myself thinking about my friends having wine and good food as I put my child down for the night and took care of my husband, who besides a bruised self esteem, has a mean cold as well.  But this too shall pass and better days will come. Vero will not have another baby Christening, but we will get a family picture in one of  her three girls' quinceaneras. Ay Mama!