Solo Parenting

This week I am holding down the fort on my own again. My husband is in Israel for work until Friday.  This has become a yearly trip that I am used to already and know to expect. But being alone always evokes all kinds of feelings for me, not all of them positive. I have posted about them in the past.It's not that I feel like I cannot take care of the kids on my own, because I do so for most of the week anyway. I do appreciate my husband's help when he is around but I don't rely on it, so being a one-woman show doesn't usually throw me that much (unless there are 2 feet of snow on the ground but that is a different story!) The difficulty is  mostly about feeling isolated and disconnected. Hanging out with my kids all day is fun and chaotic but it doesn't fulfill my need for interaction with adults. In general, I try to be extra kind to myself at these times- ordering take-out for dinner one night or taking a babysitter for a morning or an evening, so I can have some space, do errands or meet friends.Sunday is really the hardest day and now that I have successfully navigated today, I am hoping the rest of the week will be smooth as well. Being that G'd has a good sense of humor, though, I should not be too confident.A is finally going back to school tomorrow and I am planning on doing lots of cleaning this week. I am hoping to tackle the kids' bedroom/playroom and am a little frightened of what I may find...this is a room that needs some serious Pessach-work so I have a allotted myself a whole week to deal with it. I read an interesting (yet obvious) idea this week in Mishpacha magazine about common misconceptions about Pessach. The author wrote that many women feel that cleaning properly is impossible. They think it is overwhelming, that they cannot rise to the challenge and they will surely make mistakes. The author reminds us that G'd gave Pessach to human beings. He knows we are not perfect. We all try to do the best we can and even if we do mess up, there are competent rabbis who can help us rectify the situation. Something to think about when I find whole pieces of bagels and other goodies hidden amongst my children's toys.How is it going with your Pessach cleaning? Any inspiring thoughts?