Paper Chain Countdown

While the cat's away, the mice will play!

This weekend I've had time to reflect on what it would be like to be a single mum! While we had lots of fun, got most of the practical stuff done and are all still smiling ... it's been hard work! You just push through, find enthusiasm from the depths of somewhere you didn't know existed and thank God that he's walking every step with you!

It was only four days and while I could have done it a lot longer am pleased that I won't need to!! Especially as Naomi was still a bit sick ... clearing up stuff from either end, all over clothes and carpet, keeping her happy and making sure Abigail wasn't missing out was interesting at times!!

Having said that, Abigail has been a total superstar ... stepping up when I've needed help and being very thoughtful to both me and Naomi ... even more than normal. She also seems to be totally OK with the fact that Mark's away so far too.

We tried to prepare her as much as we could before hand explaining that Daddy was going on an aeroplane far away to help some people fix another plane, which she thought was really good. We also have a children's world map in the girls bedroom so we showed her where Mark was flying from and to. Over the weekend she would randomly ask 'Where is Daddy now?' ... so we would go to the map and find out. She was very excited to see that now daddy has arrived where the big red bird is!

The day before Mark left we had fun making a paper-chain with one link for every day that he was away. Every morning he's away we take one link off so that each day the chain gets gradually shorter until he's back home. It's something I think I first heard of when we were studying at All Nations, a visual way for little people to understand the passing of time while their loved one is away ... because 3 and a half weeks means nothing to Abigail right now. I was reminded of it again here as it's something that several of the MMS families do too when the dad's are away on rapid response. To be honest it's been helpful for me too!!

Abigail has really entered into it. She loved making it ... any chance to use scissors and glue and she's happy! We made one before Christmas to add to our holiday decorations adding sparkly stickers to each link that time ... super cheap and super easy with paper from the dollar store. A great way to spend some creative time, brighten up a corner of the room ... and this time with a practical purpose too!