Crazy Hours!

Every evening, between dinner and bed, I ask my husband, "What time will you be going to work tomorrow, and what time will you be home?"  

I think if this were an occasional occurrence, it could be within the limits of normal, but everyday my husband's schedule is a mystery to me.  With just a spouse alone, this can be a little nutty, but add little ones into the mix, and a mixed-up schedule can really put strain on a family.  

A very good example of our schedule over the span of 4 weeks includes 5 days of going to work from about 7am to 6pm, 5 days of 2pm to 1am, and 5 days of 5am to 5pm, plus 5 days of 12pm to 9pm.  That's a lot to absorb, but basically it is all over the map at any given time.  Daily schedules do not necessarily match consecutively, but the whole gamut of schedules may be run in any one week.  

This is naturally a wear on my husband whose sleep, eating, and exercising schedule gets turned on its head continually.  My kids and I have no stability, either.  What I wouldn't give to know that every Thursday, I could count on him to be home at 7pm so that I could take a class, or go to the gym, or just have some type of stability.  Our older kids miss their daddy on days when he's home while they are at school, and he doesn't return until after they are in bed.  Sometimes I have been known to let them stay up late so that they can say, "Hi!" to their dad before going to bed.  This is good, but then the kids are a little less fun to be around the next day.  

I don't think this constantly changing schedule is fair to the kids, either.  

Also, when he returns late at night, or leaves early in the morning, the noise that is inevitable sometimes wakes me and our little ones.  After he comes or goes, I can end-up staying awake for hours, not able to sleep because of my kids or my mind's following wakefulness.  

Because we are constantly on the move, and do not find baby-sitters or childcare providers readily due to lack of knowing anyone at first, I depend on my husband to help me with my needs, such as going to the doctor or the dentist.  I can't make these appointments on my own, because his schedule is such a mess, but have to have him call to make the appointments, and hope that he can give me the chance to go to the doctor.  

What do you think?  

This is one of many difficulties facing some, but not all, military families.  Naturally, when our kids are older, a crazy schedule will affect us differently, but for now, I find it tough to handle on top of all the other demands the military makes of its families.  

Thanks for listening!  

:) C.M.

What do you think?