Dad passes test being on his own

The chips were stacked against me.

We’ve been fortunate that since Baby Schanz has been around, neither my wife nor I has had to be a “single parent” for more than an evening.

I’d be away for a night freelancing for local media covering football games while Chrissy is at home keeping the house afloat. Or, Chrissy may be picking up some extra hours helping out the hospital she works at with some outreach for local high school athletics, and it’d be up to me to keep a toddler alive.

We’ve never been on our own with our daughter for very long. Last fall, when I went to Las Vegas for work, my mother-in-law was in town to help out Chrissy.

A couple of weekends ago, though, I had to embark on being a single dad for more than three full days while my wife went to Spencerville, Ohio, to spend some time with her friends.

It was going to be uncharted territory for us. It would be the longest duration Chrissy had been away from us, and it was going to be the first time I’d be alone with our daughter.

I was ready for the challenge. However, things were lining up to be more difficult than I had thought I could handle.

Chrissy was going to head down on a Wednesday, and the weekend prior, we noticed our daughter was cutting both of her top incisors. The entire week, our daughter was not sleeping well. She’d wake up hysterical around 2 or 3 a.m., have to join us in bed and still toss and turn all night. On one occasion in particular, she didn’t want anything but to be held, so I had to attempt to get sleep — emphasis on “attempt” — on the couch with our daughter in my arms.

It did not end well. We had gone into the living room at 3:30 a.m., and I was awake for the rest of the night.

So, knowing that Baby Schanz was having a rough week ahead of her mother skipping town for the weekend, I was second-guessing my ability to get through it.

Chrissy even had second thoughts about leaving us to visit her friends.

I demanded she go, though. She needed the time away. She needed a bit of a break for her mental health and to see her best friend.

I reassured her that, although Baby Schanz was having a tough time, I’d get through it.

Lo and behold, all the worrying we did was much ado about nothing.

The first night, Wednesday, I made sure Baby Schanz had gotten her Tylenol and tablets to help with her teething. She woke up crying shortly after midnight, I brought her into bed with me and she had little issue sleeping from that point on.

She had some trouble falling asleep on Thursday, and I wasn’t able to put her down until about an hour later than normal. But she slept in her crib even longer this time, not needing the parental comfort until after 5 a.m.

Friday, she stayed in her crib all night long.

Easy peasy.

My reinforcements arrived a day early, as Chrissy chose not to stay that final night. Truth be told, though, she could have stayed another three nights and I would have been a-OK.

I was dreading that weekend, knowing how difficult a week Baby Schanz was having. The one-two punch of new teeth and trouble sleeping was a recipe for a troublesome time for a first-time father on his own with his 16-month-old daughter.

I passed the test.

And I’ll have less to worry about when duty calls yet again. 

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Chris Schanz is a former CR Sports Editor who survived being a “single dad” for the first time. Send comments to [email protected].