I SHOULD KNOW BETTER

My husband and I are in the same line of work...working for the same company even. We are both in management....although he is working towards higher management, and I have made it clear that I'm not interested in moving up any farther than I am now. I've had the opportunity presented to me, but it just doesn't interest me. Frankly, my entire line of work doesn't interest me.

As you can imagine, working in the same field AND for the same company has it's good and bad sides. The good side is that we understand what the other is dealing with on a daily basis, and can easily commiserate when things go haywire. The bad side? Pretty much the same thing. Where am I going with this?

It is nearly impossible to make any solid family plans due to these jobs...my husband's in particular. His schedule is different every single week, and by different I'm talking drastically different. One day he'll work at 5am, the next day he'll have to be there at 3pm, and the day after that maybe 10am. Yes, he's the one writing the schedule, but he has to be there when he is needed. As you can imagine, this is exhausting...for him in particular. He's on call all hours of the day and night. His sleep patterns are a mess, and it's frustrating for me to have all the last-minute scheduling changes.

For example: This past week was Spring Break, which I had been planning to take off so I could spend some time with the little folks. Alas, this was not in the cards, due to work being very busy due to Easter, and less than sufficient scheduling for it. Throw in the fact that I have inventory Monday, and my fate was sealed. I guess I could have just taken it off anyway and thrown dear Amanda to the wolves, but I'm a kinder boss than that, and apparently I have this desperate need to control things.  My husband was originally off tomorrow (Easter Sunday), and while I really wanted to have that day off together to celebrate Easter with our children, I knew I needed to spend a few hours at work to finish up inventory stuff. So, I planned to go into work early before church. That plan was all set out and then he had to completely turn his schedule upside to accomodate for some issues going on at work. Now, he is working at 5am on Easter, and the rest of the week is mixed up as well. Sigh. See my dilemma? Now, the little Suttons and I will be going to church tomorrow morning without him, and then the darlings will be coming to work with me. Sounds fun, dontcha think? Actually they will enjoy it and I will put them to work and make them earn their keep. HA!

I'm going to do my darndest to salvage the rest of the day for my family. Holidays will always be a struggle for us because it's a busy time in our line of work. I SHOULD KNOW BETTER than to try and make any plans at all with my husband's crazy schedules. My boss reminded me of that yesterday. While my job isn't quite as complicated schedule-wise, there are only two of us to do it all, and cover every day. We do what we can with what we're given. We bitch about it alot....but I think we're also glad to at least be in it together....we're a good match that way. I'm mean to her and she throws me attitude right back. I share my peanut butter and she brings good magazines. We meet for martinis and really let it all fly. You get it, right?

My goal for the coming months is to hammer out solid family time every week...especially for my kids' sakes. They are so used to being with one parent at a time...on the days when we are all together those little eyes light up like its Christmas. That breaks my heart every time. They deserve both of us together, more often. Right now, there isn't much we can realistically change...but we hope that my husband will get a promotion soon (company movement is pretty much stagnant right now, who wants to retire in this economy?), and that will at least offer him a more consistent schedule on a regular basis. Of course, we are both so thankful to have jobs that can afford us a safe home, transportation, food, insurance and retirement. We know we are lucky. We just want a little more time together to enjoy it all!