Nothing makes me appreciate Mr. Spreadsheets more than when he goes out of town.

And nothing makes me swear he is never leaving again like him going out of town.

I have to preface by saying Mr. Spreadsheets isn’t one of those dads who is home at 4pm, playing with the kids, helping with dinner, and then cleaning up and putting kids to bed while I rest on my laurels.

Mr. Spreadsheets is great, but he works… a lot. 

He’s gone… a lot, and I’m on my own with the kids a lot.

Given his insane schedule (I’m finally to the point of admitting it’s madness) you’d think I’d be well prepared for him to go out of town for a few days.

Wrong.

He was out of town this weekend… and all the crap hit the fan.

Luckily, a good friend came and visited for part of the weekend and that kept things mildly under control.

But today at church we were on our own and…

Well it was just laughable.

After the meeting the bishop came up and commented that it looked like I was having a rough day.

And then several other people independently came up and said the same thing.

It might have been because the Princess lost her mind during the quiet part of the meeting and just started screaming over a marker cap and when I tried to rush her out of the chapel AsthmaMan trapped me and I tripped over my dress after I finally made a break for it.

Or that AsthmaMan was trying to do the worm and a puzzle simultaneously.

Or that the Princess finally got the cap off said marker and colored all over the hymnal.

Or that when AsthmaMan finished his bag of pretzels he poured the salt and crumbs all over our pew.

Or that AsthmaMan and the Princess got into a screaming match during the last song.

Or that AsthmaMan decided to hug the Princess which really meant pinching her face as hard as he could and then wouldn’t release his grip.

Or maybe I just looked tired because only one out of three kids slept through the night all weekend.

Or maybe it was just the general sense of frustration over trying to get three kids a million different places on my own this weekend.

Or maybe it was that this weekend trip came at the beginning of a busy semester, and the end of an allergy/sickness filled week.

Whatever the reason, when the 3rd guy at church said it looked like I was having a “rough day”, I lost it.

I think my exact words were something like “Mr. Spreadsheets is never leaving again for any reason, no wedding is worth this. He owes me so big!”

Probably more than the guy wanted to know…

Is this how all kids act when dad is out of town?

My dad traveled a lot when I was a kid, and I remember being horrendous when he was out of town.

There was something about knowing my mom was on her own with four hellions that made us decide to totally disregard all rules.

My kids seem to have inherited the same outlook.

So next time… well let me say this with the understanding that I am being completely irrational and that I know I will end up taking it back… but next time unless his job requires it… Mr. Spreadsheets isn’t leaving. And there’s no freaking way he’s leaving on a weekend again…

I know… I’m a crazy person.