What do y’all do when your wife is away on a business trip and you’ve got all three kids 24/7?

[kimmy12]

@sweetsuzy In truth the very last point was a little inaccurate / off - pretend like I didn’t miss her house work, or extra hands helping out with the kids. We always tell she’s missed.

And by day four I’m a little over it - so the house isn’t perfect when my she returns. I bring the house to zero every night so i can be more present and a tidy house helps me stay calm and parent better.

It is hard work, but I love it — helps me create better connections with my kids.
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[sweetsuzy]

@kimmy12 I hear ya dad bro. You did a great job. Like they say “if parenting is easy, you’re not doing it right”

 

[nathanlandon1]

@ajewelinhiscrown Get them all on a solid sleep schedule. Solid bedtime routine, don’t change it because mom is away, keep it as close to normal as possible (and if it can’t be done for all kids by 1 parent, that’s a problem that needs to be addressed).

If the 2yo is giving up naps, then no naps, especially not for 3 hours! It’ll help them sleep better at night and help you with getting them to sleep.

 

[namaoza]

@nathanlandon1 Also make a big, simple meal that lasts a few days. You can avoid unnecessary spending on takeout - something like spaghetti and a vegetable of your choosing or some sautéed chicken, rice a roni and broccoli.

Keep it simple. Keep it smart. Keep it relatively healthy.

 

[alexburke]

@ajewelinhiscrown I've only got two kids, but bedtime is so much easier for me when my wife is out of the house. The kids do bedtime with her just fine but they stretch it out. When I try to do bedtime while my wife is home, they fight me on everything and tend to go to bed without a story.

When my wife is gone, the kids go up and start getting ready as soon as I tell them to. My 3 year old still needs help getting PJs on, and they both need help brushing their teeth well. Once they're dressed and clean and have gone potty, they'll both sit on my younger's bed while I read to them and then go to their own beds and say goodnight. It's fast and easy and there are rarely tears.

 

[1sidney2]

@ajewelinhiscrown I’m wishing I was your wife away on trip

 

[claymore]

@ajewelinhiscrown Get a good herding dog

 

[katrina2017]

@ajewelinhiscrown Did it for almost a year when covid first started as my wife had to work the opposite shift than me. My kids were 1,3,8. It's all about routine. Dinner at roughly the same time every night, baths at the same time, same bedtime and routine, same wake up time and morning routine.

 

[nimrodthemightyhunter]

@ajewelinhiscrown Only two kids and a dog.

Beg my parents to show up around 730am and stay until bedtime.

Luckily they’re more than happy to help as much as they can and my dad and dog are best friends.

 

[brunilda]

@ajewelinhiscrown My wife is in the navy so yeah. I feel ya.

But three kids? Oh heck no. Just do the best you can and count down the days until help arrives.

 

[bone097]

@ajewelinhiscrown My wife has a hissy fit she has both our kids for longer than 2 hours. In that case she enlists help from her family.

 

[katrina2017]

@bone097 As a woman whose husband travels 90% of the time I wanted to pop in and say “huh?” She’s a parent too right? This just confuses me and I feel like maybe you’re joking?

 

[bone097]

@katrina2017 We have a 9 month old and a 3 year old. She gets overwhelmed having to hold the baby while toddler runs wild.

Personally, I don't have an issue watching both. But some people get easily overwhelmed.

 

[lonelyhorse]

@ajewelinhiscrown Pray for Mojo…

 

[markoni]

@ajewelinhiscrown What do I do? Suffer! LOL. I also have a chilled beer on standby when they do fall asleep and watch Die Hard with my favorite fritos and spicy salsa. (serious answer, I'm a SAHD and it's difficult.)

 

[alicelh]

@ajewelinhiscrown Take them to a giant field. Let them run. Let them run.

 

[mannierogers22]

@ajewelinhiscrown I recently had to take care of two kids (2 and 4) on my own for 2 full weeks. What I did was turning everything into a game and recruit the 4yo as my helper. He would “assist me” with putting his baby sister to bed. And I train him to be quiet and wait for me when needed, then I’ll reward him somehow, such as telling him extended bedtime stories or an extra pouch of apple sauce.

Can’t imagine dealing with 3, but I think you can find ways to enlist your 7 and 5 year old as your “assistants” good luck!

 

[pl21000]

@ajewelinhiscrown My wife travels a lot... my guys are older now (8/10), but we've been dealing with it since they were 4/6.

Like everyone else said, keep the routines.

BUT, we also have some "dad" rules. For example, my wife's not a big burger fan, so I pretty much always make burgers. Ditto on Lasagna (this is great because I make it Sunday, and we have leftovers for Monday)

We don't do any "don't tell mom" stuff, but the screen time allowance is higher. Well, I guess F1 Drive to Survive that we're currently watching has more F-bombs than mom would approve of, so maybe I have to take that back.

Beyond that, I also let them be more in charge of things. We keep it healthy, but I take a lot more of their input when Mom's not around, she is the opinionated eater, so we gain some freedom when she's gone and we take advantage of it.