Attachment issues

I love being a stay at home mom. I get to experience it all with my kids; the ups, the downs, and the moments that have you calling up your husband at work to tell him about such and such that one kid did or said. I can't imagine being the parent on the other end of the phone, not getting to see whatever happened in person.

That being said, we had a meltdown around there this weekend. We don't have any grandparents that live around us (drive 700+ miles north and you'll reach them!), so my kids don't get to see many other family members a lot. Also, being a stay at home mom and one income family, we don't have the luxury to pay a babysitter to watch our kids so we can go out. I also don't get the kids out enough to play with other kids and other moms (it is something that I always regret, but that's for another day). Well, my husbands parents came to visit us this weekend, and the hubs and I figured that would be the perfect opportunity to get out of the house.. just the two of us. We spent 5 hours early in the day at the state fair, enjoying all the fresh air, fatty food, and getting to spend the time together. Here are some pics..

5pm until bedtime was husband and wife time, though. We made reservations to a wonderful restaurant we'd been meaning to try, and made our way out the door at 5:01pm. Little did we know what happened when we left.

Our 2 year old, B, is really attached to me. I'm with him everyday, and when I have to leave him, he tends to scream. A lot. My MIL told me that the moment we walked out the door, B went screaming upstairs, alone, and hid in his little sister's room (all while K sat in her high chair, content to be with whomever is feeding and paying attention to her). MIL said that after a few minutes, B made his way (screaming) into our bedroom, slamming the door shut. Fast-forward to Sunday morning. I'm getting ready upstairs, hubby is about to take a shower, and B realizes that he's going to be outside, alone, with his grandparents. Cue screaming, banging on the back door, stomping up the stairs (once MIL let him inside), and running into my arms, sobbing and holding on for dear life.

Ok, ok, truth be told, I kinda love it. It's awful, but I love being the one that B runs to when he's hurt or upset, or happy! but I also know it's not good that he's so attached to us, and can't be with anyone else without pitching a fit. If we had the money we'd send him to a daycare for a day, just to get used to other people, but we don't. and I'm at a parenting loss. I'm picturing him 16 years old and still screaming on the first day of school because he's going to be separated from me. Yikes.