I got off the phone with Katie this morning, while I was on my way to work, and C said “that’s my mama! I like her.”

Katie spent the night in Nashville last night after a conference, so the kids and I had a mama-free night (pizza and tv, even though it was a school night!). We all missed Katie, but we banded together to try to distract C, who couldn’t understand why her mom wasn’t there.

I wonder what C’s life would be like if she could choose. I think she’d have all of her loved ones in one room watching Nick Jr.

I’m frustrated. My dishwasher, which I completely rely on, is kaput. It’s not washing, and I spent 45 minutes trying to figure out why.

Then I gave up and decided to watch the Simpsons, one of my favorite things on tv, although I haven’t watched it in ages. And I’m still waiting for it. Two minutes of Simpsons leads to five minutes of commercials. It’s sick. And I will pass on network tv from now on.

Right now, this very second, I am letting C be babysat by the tv. It’s true. It might be the Backyardigans or Wonderpets or Yo Gabba Gabba. I’m not even sure. All I know is, I’m not doing the parenting; Nick Jr is.

I do this more often than I’d like. Sometimes, Katie will just say “this is the least of our problems today, just let her watch tv. We’ve got enough to worry about.” Other times it’s letting her vege with the tv when she is sick. As my mom says, people who say kids shouldn’t watch tv when they’re sick never had children.

Tonight, my excuse is that I am solo parenting, and I have a lot to do before I can put C to bed. The kitchen needs to be cleaned, the trash needs to be taken out, the diapers need to be washed, the dogs and cats need to be fed, and – oh yeah – C needs to be fed, too.

And obviously this post needs to be written, too, don’t you think?

Katie will probably be home tonight long after C is asleep, and I can’t wait until C’s bedtime – in another hour or so – to get things done. Heck, part of what I have to do is the behind the scenes part of getting C to bed – laying out her pj’s, turning on the noise machine (we’re big believers), getting the bath ready, and preparing the boppies. Boppies are key to getting C to sleep, and on solo parenting nights, you must have the right number of boppies by the bed before C is ready to go to sleep, or you will be at it for hours.

I feel guilty about letting Gabba Gabba do my babysitting, but not too guilty. I just don’t know how single parents do it. I’m just glad I have the tv as an option.

I’m one of those people who have to get things accomplished to feel happy. And I haven’t done that enough lately.

Not that I should complain; the reasons I haven’t gotten much accomplished at home lately range from spending so much time with the toddler to watching football to hanging out with friends.

But when I woke up this morning feeling blue, I knew it was more than a case of the Mondays. I have a ton of stuff I really want to get done around the house, and I’m just not getting it done. With the help of a friends, I did get some drywall work done last week and a coat of paint put up in an upstairs bedroom. But I feel like I should’ve gotten two coats of paint done and the trim started. And I should be making more progress on getting C’s room ready. If nothing else, I’d like to have a clean kitchen and clean laundry!

It really is difficult getting stuff done with a toddler. Before C was born, Katie and I talked about how we didn’t want to have to have the TV on much for C. No TV babysitter unless absolutely necessary! But Katie works an insane amount of hours, and we have a big house and lots of people running around. Tonight, Katie won’t get home until after C is in bed, which usually happens for us one or two nights a week. Without an extra person to help out, I’m left with either the TV as the babysitter or more dirty dishes and unfolded laundry. And I’m not especially ok with that.

But I do hope to make it up to her by taking her on a good walk after supper. If only I can figure out what we’re going to eat….