Alone w 3 children for a week…seeking tips

[tkw829]

Hi fellow Daddits,

I posted on a similar topic before but it can’t hurt to recast your fishing line:

I’m a SAHD and my wife is going out of town for work for six days/five nights. Kids are 7/4/1 yo.

I’ve watched them like this twice before and it’s really hard but doable. I’m going to be a bit more lenient with screen time and will cook simpler dinners, use paper plates, etc to make the job of maintaining the house/feeding kids easier.

Hardest part is gonna be sleep because our toddler is still breastfed at night. Last time my wife had to travel I got like 2 hours of sleep for 4 nights straight.

Don’t care much if the house gets a little messy, and I have plenty of time to prepare meals (SAHD), but it’s hard to function or have patience with kids past a certain threshold of sleep deprivation.

Any tips or advice?

I normally avoid energy drinks but might buy a six pack of Monster. Might try getting toddler a pacifier to see if he can use it to sleep at night.

Beyond sleep, I want to mix up our routine and do some different stuff that we don’t normally do w Mom around. Maybe go to the park and have some fast food picnic style so we don’t have to do dishes at home. The idea would be to make it a little dinner rather than just count the days until the cavalry returns.

I’d love to hear your suggestions!

 

[jonathanat]

@tkw829 Some activities could include a sing-a-long, a dance party (perhaps combined with the sing-a-long), helping to prepare a meal (my one niece and nephew love helping cook), giants in a river (this would be something to do outside; basically, you take a dribble of water from a hose and let it run down a side-walk or driveway; the kids use twigs, rocks, and leaves to build whatever they want along the river... warning: some kids might be distraught at the inevitable conclusion of this game...), washing dishes (that same niece and nephew like to play in the kitchen sink, might as well get some dishes "washed" while they're at it... even if they need to be rewashed again afterwards), write a story together, build a blanket fort...

Have fun!

 

[tkw829]

@jonathanat Yay! Someone responded! I like the idea of a dance party, it has been fun doing that before Thanks!

 

[jonathanat]

@tkw829 When Security Chief Garibaldi asks me for a list of suggestions, I give a list of suggestions.