It’s the little things that are the biggest blessings sometimes. My hubby’s work schedule is relentless. He is gone before the kids
get up on most days…and if not, he is definitely out the door before we leave
to take K to school. Then he barely
makes it home for supper…and that’s only because we've started eating supper
later so that we can do it as a family. And that's just when he is actually home (as opposed to deployed...LOL). So at this point our evening schedule is supper, clear the table, baths
and bed. LOL. Some would say that isn't good for one reason or another…but it works for us and it works for the kids
and it means we get to eat as a family (well, most of the time).
I noticed the change starting about two weeks ago. The school called and was convinced that
sweet K was sick. Bless her heart, she
has allergies like you would not believe and our current, unpredictable weather
has really played a number on her sinuses.
Not to mention that she has indoor and outdoor allergies plus seasonal
and year round. The poor kid just can’t get a break. Anyway, all the runny nose
crud from her allergies was finally starting to drain…good and bad…in draining,
it created a cough. Poor kid was
coughing almost all the time. So, during
a particularly bad day at school, they sent her to the nurse who then called us
and said they were concerned…she had a very low-grade fever but they had no
idea if it was just from the near-constant coughing or if it was a sign of some
sort of illness and in the interest of the rest of the children in her class,
they would like us to pick her up and have her doctor examine her to be sure
she didn't have anything contagious. I
called my hubby and told him and he said ‘I’ll call the clinic while you get
you and C ready to go…I’ll call you back with her appointment time or an
authorization to take her to an off-base facility.’ Bonus! So, I traded my ‘cleaning/housework
clothes’ for real clothes and went to get my little man that had been playing
in his room (avoiding a nap). As I
opened the door, my phone rang…Daddy had the authorization number! Yay!
Unfortunately, little man had apparently fallen asleep in the past 15 minutes
or and wasn't coughing so and I hated to wake him (he suffers the same
allergies and was dealing with the same cough as his sister…so any non-coughing
sleep was a rarity). When I groaned in
frustration, my hubby (of course) asked what was wrong. So I shared and his response was ‘Give me two
minutes and I’ll leave here to go get her…if she is sick, he could be, too and
if he’s resting comfortably, let him sleep.’
Woah. That did not just happen. I said okay and quietly backed out of Lil’
Man’s room. Daddy picked up K and
brought her home and while I took her to the doc, he even stayed home for C to
keep sleeping (she was fine, BTW…no fever at the doc and not sick at all).
WOAH. That just never happens. At least not until now.
You see, the first several years of his career, he has spent
so much time building a strong foundation for himself that things like that
just didn't happen. And that was fine. I handled everything and I was good at
it…still am. But that doesn't mean that it wasn't hard at times. That there weren't times when I wished he’d just tell ‘em he had to go and come home and
help…like when I was sick and still had an infant to take care of or
whatever. Not that it wasn't an option…or
that there weren't others in the same position that did it. He just didn't want
to be ‘that guy’…and I didn't want him to be ‘that guy’ either. I wanted him to build a reputation based on
dependability, respect and strong work-ethic.
Not a reputation built on ‘I have to go home and take care of my wife.’ But now…now we are there. Now (every now and
then) he can look at his guys and say ‘Y’all handle this, I gotta go handle
something else’ and that’s okay…he’s trained them well and the office runs smoothly
when he has to step out for something else (either work related or family
related)…there are days when the juggling is tough for him and his phone rings
off the hook when he does leave the office for one reason or another. But he
has that opportunity now and it is priceless.
But this week has been even more different. Maybe it is because he is heading to a new
job soon or maybe it’s just an unusually calm period of time. Whatever it is, though, he hasn't had
anything terribly early in the morning, so for 5 days in a row (okay, 4 since
Wednesday was a Snow Day), he has been able to take sweet K to school (notice that I saved this until the last day of the week so as not to jinx us...LOL). She has LOVED it…and that is a massive
understatement. It has been so good for her and she has just basked in the
opportunity to spend her morning with Daddy.
It’s been great for C and I, too.
This week has been bitterly cold and we have been perfectly content to
stay in our warm, comfy jammies and spend the morning snuggling and reading books…C
even had the opportunity to sleep in a couple of times and I've gotten to finish drinking my coffee while is still hot!
I know it won’t last forever. And before we know it, he’ll
either be out on the road (deployed) or immersed in his new job and we’ll be
back to doing it the ‘old’ way…and that is both expected and acceptable…you
see, this isn't just a ‘job’ for him (or for the kids and I), this is a
lifestyle…one that we love and wouldn't trade.
But for the time being, it is a blessing and I’ll take it.
~Jac
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