I am thrilled to have Julia from Wine in Mom guest posting on Sisters to Sons today. Her blog chronicles the highs and lows of motherhood with humor, and an ounce or two of wine (or is it ‘whine’??) in all the right places. You can also find Julia on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. 

Once in awhile my husband travels for work, and while I don’t always enjoy the solo parenting, I must admit that there are a few things that it’s just nice to get a break from. And a few things that I can ignore while my husband is away. And while solo parenting can be rough, there are definitely some little niceties to having the house (mostly) to myself.

Here are 10 things that happen while my husband is away….

I don’t pick the dirty socks up off the floor because, oh wait, without my husband at home there are no dirty socks on the floor.

I don’t go food shopping because my son and I would be perfectly content to live of cheese, crackers and cereal.

I don’t wake up on trash day with a sense of panic, because I’m not worrying that someone didn’t take the trash out, because I already did it.

I watch two hours of The Bachelor without any interruptions, snide comments or snickers.

I actually get to hold the remote and decide what to watch. And I get to watch on the big TV in the living room rather than the small one in the kitchen.

My son eats dinner early and goes to bed early because we aren’t waiting for Dad to get home. Sometimes I start dinner at 4:30, so the whole bedtime routine is done by 6:30.

The only person hogging the covers is me. Plus no cold feet touching me and no snoring.

No one notices if the sink is full of dishes or that the laundry has been sitting in the washer for two days and is starting to smell.

I don’t have to answer the question, “what did you do all day?” while I stare at my computer and try to remember what we did.

After my son is in bed, there is no one left to entertain. No one is asking me what I’m going to do with my night, no one expects me to make conversation or watch TV shows I don’t enjoy or to do stuff around the house. The hours between 7 and 11 are my own, I can blog, play on Facebook or read a book without thinking about anyone else.

I love my husband and I miss him when he’s away, especially when things go bump in the night. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and helps to recharge me so that when he does come home I’m not rolling my eyes when he asks what I’ve done all day or ignoring him when he mentions that the laundry has been sitting for too long. And sometimes it’s nice just to pour a glass of wine, turn on some reality TV and put my feet up after a long day without having to think about anyone else but me. Maybe it’s selfish, but it happens so rarely that I try to enjoy all the things that happen while my husbands away.