Thankful Thursday ~ The Man

This is my first Thankful Thursday so I'll start off small; today I am thankful for my husband.

Hubs has an emotionally, physically and bureaucratically demanding job - the type of job that usually requires a Trouble Tree. I must admit, I haven't always been fully supportive of his sometimes long hours of overtime or his need to bond with 'the boys' (ie, his workmates) with a beer after work. But for 99% of the time, I am so thankful for this man and this job and all that it provides us as a family.

Every day last week he commuted into the city (about an hour away) to attend a training course. He was gone well before the rest of us woke up (pre-dawn) and often didn't get home until dinner, some 12-13 hours later. He'd stumble in the door mentally exhausted and with an armful of books to swat up on for the next day's testing. The kids only saw him for one, maybe two hours a night, so they were all over him and he kept a smile on, but you could tell he was struggling. All through last week I did the little things I thought would help - I packed a lunch the night before and left it in the fridge for him, and I minimised the kids' insanity so that he could concentrate. On Saturday, rested and renewed, he was a different man, LOL. This week, he's back in his regular capacity at work but he's on afternoon shift - still sleeping when the kids wake in the morning, the kids are at school when he finally rises, he's off to work again by the time school lets out and he doesn't get home until after they're in bed. And then it starts again the next day. He last saw the kids on Sunday evening and won't see them again until Saturday morning, despite all five of us living in the same house :P

I am so proud of Hubs for all that he has achieved at work, but I'm also extremely grateful, even with the late nights and long stretches as a proxy-single-mother, because I know the only reason I am able to stay at home and experience all this is because of this same demanding job. Hubs makes a good income, and the job is very stable. He is very good at what he does, and his bosses love him. The training course (with another just like it all next week and potentially a month-long stretch in November or early in the new year) is setting him up for a significant promotion and with that comes a healthy pay rise. I do not need to work, like so many of the mums I know, and I can't even begin to describe how thankful I am that we are not raising our children in the same way that I was raised. My mother did spend extended periods of time at home with us kids when Dad had solid work, but during that times that he did not, she had to work - there was no choice. I am seeing the same situation happening with my sister (seven years my senior). Her kids (though much older than my own at 11 and 12) recently became semi-Latchkey Kids (alone at home but with nearby neighbour popping in a few times during the couple of hours they're home alone - I should also point out that my neice and nephew are very responsible kids) and while I recognise the unique hardships my sister has had to endure with her own family, I can't say that I'd want to be in her position. I love that I'm a stay-at-home mum and to be perfectly honest, I'd remain so for the foreseeable future.

And so I'm thankful that I've been given the gift of time to stay at home, and provision for a comfortable home and lifestyle through the efforts of my husband. This man has given me everything I've ever wanted, and much more (blush, LOL). Sappy, perhaps, but true!

Cheers,
Lizzie