Hell Week

If you've been following me, you've probably heard of my use the terms "Hell Week" and "Heaven Week."

This is because of Steve's schedule. As you all know, he works 3 days each week. Those days are about 14 hours long, so it is still full-time.

He gets to be home the other 4 days a week. (It's ok to hate him a little). 

This has been his schedule for around 8 years, I think. He's never had a Monday - Friday, 8am - 5pm job. I don't think he has at least.

His schedule is either Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday, or Thursday/Friday/Saturday.

When it shifts from one to the other, he either gets a week off of work, or he has to work 6 out of 7 days. All 14 hour shifts. So that week has been deemed "Hell Week" - makes sense, right?

He'd work Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.

That's a freaking long ass time to work/commute (his place of work is about 40 minutes from our house).

Not only is it Hell Week for him, but it's also Hell week for me.

With him gone before we wake up and home after bedtime, all parenting duties fall to me.

Wake up/breakfast/get ready for school and daycare (and myself to work at a reasonable time).

Pick up before rush hour (so I leave work a little early, like 4:30) so I can get to the girls before 5pm.

Dinner, homework, playtime, bath time, bed time.

All on me. 

All activities during this time fall on me.

If school functions happen during this time, it'll fall on me (and to be fair, I can work from anywhere as long as I have my laptop and an Internet connection, Steve can't work if he's not actually on site).

If someone gets sick and needs to be picked up. On me.

And don't forget that I'm also working Monday - Friday and am usually pretty tired by the time I get home!  I feel bad that my patience is worn thin by the time I get to my kids. I feel like I'm barking at them about stuff the second we walk in the door.

I am trying my hardest to be in the moment and realize that while I've had a full (busy) day away from my kids, they've missed me and wanted to tell me about their days.

The obvious benefit is that our kids get to be home with a parent for half the week. They've only ever been in part-time daycare. That's something that makes me happy.

The other benefit is that while I'm the "single parent" for those 3 days and everything falls on me, the other 4 days? When he's home?

I get to do almost nothing. 

Before you roll your eyes at me, think about it: Steve doesn't (ever) have to parent and work on the same day.

For all you working parents out there - you know it, it's HARD!

Days that I'm home with the kids and have no plans? FUN! Easier! No schedules to maintain, no buses to catch, no where to be at a specific time in the early morning. Go with the flow. Of course it's easier. Of course I'd have more patience if I didn't need to spend the prior 9 hours using my brain and working.

So we're heading into Hell Week. We're lucky this time because a holiday actually falls within his week, so he will get Sunday AND Monday off!

We have plans with friends this Sunday which will be nice, then we get a relaxing Monday before heading into the work week. (I'm actually off Tuesday as well since I'm chaperoning Ava's field trip to the zoo).

Now the benefit, obviously, is that when he shifts back, he will get a week off of work. So let's do some math. He gets 6 weeks off a year, not including PTO/sick days.

We usually schedule our vacations around his week off, so he doesn't need to use up his PTO.

I'm still trying to figure out how I can drop a day. Probably never.