When Daniel and I first got married I hated when he went to work. I was anxious about being alone in our home. I had never spent nights alone before. I went from living with my parents, to living with roommates in college, back to living with my parents, then got married! So marrying a man that works 24 hour shifts was a huge adjustment. I had no idea what I was in for as a firefighter’s wife. I realized that I was going to be married to Daniel forever so I better get used to his schedule. It probably wouldn’t be so hard if I wasn’t so in love/slightly obsessed with my hubby. 🤣 I know some firefighter wives that look forward to that 24 hours, while I found myself dreading it.
At first I would basically stay home and wait for him, which made me pretty miserable. I finally decided to make plans on the days he was gone. That gave me the opportunity to hang out with my girlfriends, mom, or do girl things without feeling like I was missing out on time with Daniel. It also gave me the time to do laundry and clean the house so that we could enjoy each other and relax whenever he’s home. I finally figured out how to handle the firefighter wife schedule, and then we had Sawyer. So I now had to learn how to be a firefighter wife with babies.
Daniel took an entire month off work, which was the BEST. (Read my blog about how awesome he is here.) Being able to take off large chunks of time is another perk of being a firefighter. We are always able to take vacations whenever we want because if he takes off 1 shift it’s like taking off 3! It completely spoiled me that he was off for so long, and I knew that when he went back to work it would be a huge adjustment just like when we were newlyweds. Isolating myself was the worst thing I could do with a newborn, so I always make plans for the days he’s gone. Even if it’s just lunch with a friend, I have to get out of the house. I also try to get grocery shopping, laundry, and a little cleaning done. That’s a lot harder now that we have a newborn, but I still want to make the most of my time with Daniel rather than cleaning when he’s home. I go easy on myself when he’s not there though. If I don’t get to everything then it’s no big deal, if there’s a few dirty dishes left in the sink, or laundry in the dryer I try not to stress out.
Daniel and I want to make it a habit to facetime with Sawyer while he’s a work, and we’ve started that regularly. Even though she doesn’t understand facetime, Daniel still loves seeing her and talking to her. I also send him snapchats of her all day long. Imagine leaving your newborn baby for 24 hours. (crying face) It’s hard for me to be alone, but it’s even harder for him to be away. Then sometimes he gets home, and hasn’t slept in 24 hours so all he wants to do is hold his daughter but has to sleep instead.
His schedule has a few downsides, but it’s the best for our family! As a teacher, I get entire summers off and big breaks throughout the school year. We are able to spend so much family time together while most dads would be at a 9-5 job year round. It also means that we don’t have to do fulltime childcare. Daniel is able to be home with Sawyer 2/3 days while I’m at work, and the other day Sawyer will go to my mom’s house. Having the entire summer before I go back to work is so great, and we have so much time to get used to being parents. Once I go back to work I will have to get used to working all day, and then having our baby alone all night.
I am so thankful for my amazing husband who is so passionate about his career. He loves us both so much, and wants to spend every moment possible with us but is also such an amazing provider. Handling those 24 hours apart is a small challenge, but truly blesses our family by allowing him to be home for 48 hours! God gave him the calling to be a firefighter so that he would have a schedule that allows him to be home with our babes. God knew exactly what He was doing when He planned out our life.
xoxo,
kelsey
