My wife left me...
For five days when she went to visit her sister. The first part may have been more dramatic, but the latter was dramatic in its own right as it was just me, the dog, and the boy with absolutely no way out. I wasn't looking to thrive, just wanted to make sure all of us survive.
I knew that I was not going to be able to think about my wants as taking care of the other two was going to take my full energy. That is why I prepped the night before my wife left by making pounds of Mexican food so I could eat tacos and not have to think about any other meals over those five days. Every lunch and dinner, it was tacos. For breakfast, I made a smoothie every morning because it only takes a few minutes to make, and I could consume it on the go.
As I have stated before, I am a huge fan of routines, and that was essential in my survival. Every day basically looked exactly the same. Wake up between 4:30-5:00 when the little man started squawking. Take the dog out back to go potty, get her food, and water, and prepare breakfast and a pre-workout drink for me. Then, get the little man to read him books while he eats breakfast. At that point, the pre-workout started to kick in which didn't mean that I had to lift weights or my heart would explode, but it did mean that I needed to get to a toilet since my butt was going to explode. That meant throwing him in the pack n' play so he could entertain himself while I did business.
After that, it was time to kill two birds with one stone. I needed to get the dog a walk, and I could get the little guy outdoor time in the stroller so I had one hand on the stroller and one hand with the dog, and we really got in a good rhythm where I started to be able to handle both of them with one hand which definitely qualifies as Advanced Dadding.
Then we had open play time where we would smash WWF LJN figures against each other and play with cars until he started to wear down for his morning nap around 8:00 AM. After that, my recommendation is to take some time to focus on Dad. I got to enjoy some time where I could workout in the garage real quick, make a smoothie, and just chill for a little while.
Brunch was some sort of egg product, either scrambled or Jimmy Dean makes some wonderful frozen frittatas that cook up in the microwave in a minute, some fruit, and the occasional sausage patty, even though the latter is mostly consumed by me. Then it was time for outdoor playtime where the little man gets set free as I chase him down while having the dog on a leash. Thank God the dog only has two modes, by my side or completely frozen, because I am forced to drop her leash at least a couple times to go chase after the little guy. I feel like getting outside as much as possible is not only good physically but even more for your mental health.
That leads us to lunch and although I could eat tacos for every meal of the day, I couldn't quite put my child through that same ordeal. Now he did have some deconstructed tacos, but the key to my survival was noodles. Noodles were my best friend. His favorite meal is ditalini pasta with sauce, parmesan, and pepperoni. It's fairly simple as all you really have to do is boil water and then throw the rest of the stuff in there after the noodles have cooked. Plus, I had five days, so it wasn't a great meal one time; it was a great meal three times.
Other things that came in clutch were buttered noodles with pepperoni and parmesan, which I admit, is very similar, but it's different enough, and if you saw this guy scarf down his food, you would know that he had no issue with the solution. Finally, there was the classic mac and cheese, which I could throw some nuggets with, and between those three things, I had nearly all of his meals figured out with minimum fuss. I will admit that this plan maxes out at about five days, but it worked great for my situation.
Another key during meals was to Skype my wife and other family members during meals. I needed to scarf down my food so having someone else entertain him for a little bit helped me rest mentally as I fueled my body.
Then, after another hour of play time, it was time for his second nap, and that's when you can really put it into cruise control. When he wakes up, he gets a snack, you have a little more play time which leads into dinner, which leads into bath time, which leads into story time while he drinks a cup of milk, and then it's story time in the bedroom before you put him down for the night between 6:30-7:00.
Since I didn't pay for a fancy monitor that you can check on your phone, I instead set up a Zoom call on my computer and had my camera on the monitor, and then joined the Zoom call on my phone so I could make sure my child was safe while I took the dog for a walk. Is this excessive? In my opinion, yes, but my wife made me do it in order to get her permission to take the dog for a walk, and my little princess needs her walks. My solution was janky yet effective.
Then you get to chill out and recharge to do it the next day. When you're on your own, there's no need to worry about reinvention and changing the game. Stick with what you know, utilize what works, and keep it simple.
There's no need to be a hero, just be a Dad.