Disclaimer: my partner and I have opted to divide up parenting responsibilities as equally as possible, so much of my mothering experience has been extremely tied to my partner's fathering. So, when he experiences a change to his schedule and our regular routine needs to be adjusted, it affects me greatly. Deeply. Inescapably. Being the only parent at home changes how you sleep, and definitely not for the better. Case in point, my partner was working on a film project a few weeks back that required night shoots. This left our toddler’s bedtime entirely in my hands, and also left me to my own devices when it came time to (attempt) to get myself to bed, too.
I failed miserably. I’m almost embarrassed to admit it because I’m well aware that many moms and dads (both single and coupled) have arrangements that require them to solo parent at night time (and beyond). Still, there's no denying that when I was the only parent at home, what should have been nothing more than a minor disruption ended up being way more challenging to navigate than I expected. Like, my toddler's sleep schedule was thrown off and my own sleep schedule was thrown way off, which all affected how well I functioned during the day, too.
Thankfully, now that things have returned to normal (whatever "normal" is), I’ve had a chance to put together this handy compilation of just what it’s like to juggle your own sleep when trying to multi-task and care for a child, especially when you’re used to sharing the responsibility. I'm sure the time will come when I am the only parent at home, again, and I better as hell be prepared. Ugh. Just thinking about it makes me tired...