Spinning Plates Indeed

This has been a crazy week or so.  Brad has been gone...a lot - more than usual.  He was gone for 3 days immediately followed by another 3 days, had 1 day off, then gone 2 more days.  He gets home tonight around 11pm.  He'll be home for 4 days.

Thank goodness.

I need him home more than the typical 2-ish days.  Preferrably...I'd like him home much longer...possibly everyday.  However, you'd probably see a post about me needing space.  lol

It's a delicate balance.  When he's gone 3-ish days at a time, I can deal.  When he's gone 4 or more days in a row, it takes his toll on all of us.  The first day is ok.  The second day the kids get a bit more whiny.  The third day is mild meltdown.  If there is a fourth day - major meltdown time.

I'm just glad Brad is home tonight.  He's going to have daddy duty while I'm able to get somethings done and have some space.  This too is a delicate balance.  I really want some time for myself.  I really want to spend time just me and him.  I really want to spend time as a family.  I realize most mothers and wives want this.  I get that it's hard to balance this with any family.  I will also say that is even more difficult to balance when one spouse travels for a living.  We juggle scheduling the things we individually want to accomplish, things that NEED done (housework, home improvement projects, etc.), time as a family and time as a couple.  Inevitably at least one plate gets dropped.

I also struggle with all the free time Brad seems to get - Mainly because I rarely get any.  For example, this trip he had a long overnight in Key West where it was 80 degrees.  It is definitely not even close to that here in Indiana.  While he's there, he gets to go on a run, lay out by the pool, go to a bar and watch Butler in the Final Four....all while not even batting an eye at who's watching the kids.  Why?  Because, I am at home with the kids.  I am never able to randomly decide to do something without lining up child care.  Pedicure?  Need child care.  Hair done? Need child care.  Go for run? Need child care.  Go out for a MNO?  Need child care.  I realize this is also the case for most mothers and wives.  However, most mothers and wives that I know have husbands that have regular schedules.  This allows them to go out, run errands, run, pedicure, hair done etc in the evenings or weekends.  Brad's schedule is erratic at best. 

I love my life.  This is the life I/we chose.  I love my husband.  I love being his wife and the mother of his children. 

I know this post is mostly a vent....a peak into the life of a pilot's family.  However, we are very thankful for what God has blessed us with.  Usually, I am able to deal well with his travels and other life demands.  Every now and then (like now) the schedule seems to be extremely crazy and leaves little room for mommy to get a breather.  Times like this are when I struggle keeping the plates spinning. 

My fist blog.

Hi! This is our family's first blog. I'll write more later to introduce us. The name "Our Spinning Plates" comes from the fact that we are very busy and our schedule is hardly a schedule. My husband, Brad, is a pilot so he's always on the go. I'm a WAHM/Realtor with a 4 year old son, Aidan, and a 22 month old daughter, Greta. I sometimes feel I have all these plates spinning in the air like the classic skit, but I do my best to keep them all a float. I'm sure things will get even crazier once the kids are in school and start sports.

So that's all for now, I hope to post little things now and then about our life. I like the idea of a blog to keep up with family. Maybe I'll get the blog made into books for the kids yearly. I have great aspirations to do a yearly scrapbook, but that plate never quite gets done. Blogging seems a bit easier.