Four Things That Don't Happen When Dad's Home

My husband travels A LOT for work. It seems like if something out of the ordinary is going to happen, it will be when I'm holding down the fort. So I started a list of things that never happen when Dad's home.

1. Kids getting sick. Last month, one of the twins woke me up in the middle of the night to tell me she felt sick and was going to throw up. As you can imagine, this was not happy news. One sick kid, and an hour later, I was mostly back to sleep. The next morning, I saw I had missed this SOS text after midnight.


Maybe she's seen a little too much texting in our house?

2. Hard homework. Now this may not be completely true, but it's pretty close. The most difficult homework usually comes when we have three different places we have to be, no time to eat dinner, and I had planned on the earliest possible bedtime. That's when I'll hear Mom, I have to build a ship out of a milk carton by tomorrow morning. Or, can you help me do math that you haven't thought of in 20 years and after you relearn it, I'll tell you my teacher said we can't do it that way and burst into tears! I just can't get on the homework train anymore. I'm losing brain cells daily. My fifth grader asked if there are seven continents and I couldn't decide. I mean, they did change the number of planets since I was in school. Did they reclassify any continents?

3. Snow days...need I say more? No matter when it happens, Dad will be headed to California, while I wait to see if school will be in session.



In Tennessee, it only takes a dusting to cancel everything and get us out on our sleds. These old pictures make me laugh with the mishmash of snow gear and inadequate footwear. It's a wonder the sleds even moved with so little snow!

4. Car accidents. I have a 16 year old son who recently got his license. Since then, I've been holding my breath for the first few seconds of every phone call waiting for him to say something went wrong. Two weeks ago, I got that call. Mom? I have some bad news. I kind of got in a little fender bender after practice. Thankfully, everyone was fine. But, my husband had just left for five days. So I spent a lot of time learning about insurance and police reports. Hopefully, I don't have to use my new-found knowledge ever again!

Do you have a husband that travels? Does it seem like the flat tires, broken air conditioning systems, and ER visits all take place when he's gone? The silver lining is that I appreciate him all the more when he's home!



27 comments:

  1. Suzanne of Simply Suzannes at Home

    Oh Marie, this post is so funny! I love your comments about hard homework and the number of continents, lol!!
    There was a time when my husband travelled Monday thru Friday for several months. Our little ones were ages 4, 3 and 1. Boy was I busy! He still travels, on occasion . . . and when he comes home, I always have a 'Honey Do" list. It seems that things like to break when he's away, especially electronics. Of which I have NO knowledge of how to fix. Argh.
    And yes, we're always so so so happy when he comes home! As always, thanks for the smiles you bring :0)
    Have a beautiful week friend,
    Suzanne

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    1. Thanks, Suzanne! Sounds like you were very busy! I feel your pain on electronics breaking. I've figured out a few things out of necessity, but I prefer to avoid technology problems! :)

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  2. My husband doesn't travel but he does work second shift and the nights that he's gone often seem to be the nights where nothing runs smoothly!

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  3. My husband doesn't travel…but I'm sure if he DID, then I would have a similar list. It's kind of like how I tell him on the phone how horrible the kids have been all day, but when Daddy walks in the door, it's all smiles! :) Thanks for linking up again!!

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  4. LOL! Loved your post, particularly the homework bit. My 5th and 6th grade sons don't even bother asking me for help with their math now. I too have found out that the "new math" that we learned is now outdated and taboo!

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  5. Oh poor you, what a pain. Maybe you need to go away for the weekend and see what happens. ;) #magicmoments

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  6. Hard to be in charge 24/7! Kudos to you! #MagicMoments

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  7. I have to laugh, my husband teaches several nights a week and I think the house runs more smoothly the nights he is teaching and not home. When he is home I take it for granted that he will help with homework or bedtime and when it does not happen I fall further behind. The nights it is just me, I am completely on schedule and it runs like clockwork!

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    1. That's funny, but I can definitely see how it can be true! When I'm by myself, I'm working toward the final goal, bedtime. When my husband's here, I do slack off a bit knowing there are two of us to finish the work!

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  8. So true... Miscarriage: Scott out of town Prenatal Test Shows Signs Downs Syndrome: Scott out of town Water Heater Breaks: Scott out of town :)

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    1. Wow, Judy! Those are serious things that I'm sure were hard to deal with when your husband was gone. I'm glad he doesn't travel as much anymore!

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  9. Hahah I love this post. Thank you so much for linking up to Share With Me and introducing me to your blog. It's great to hear about America, I am from Seattle and living in the UK now. It made me laugh and smile reading america words again. I really should follow more america blogs. lol This is hilarious only in the fact that it is so true for most people I would suspect or at least for me. My hubby doesn't travel but works long hours and competes in golf on weekends and things always go crazy when I am holding the fort down too! IE illnesses, hospital trips, bedtimes going wrong etc. Eeek I hope you don't have to get one of those calls again. Hope the fender bender wasn't too bad. Hope to see you at LTM again soon. #sharewithme

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    1. Thanks, Jenny! The fender bender wasn't too bad in the scheme of things. Much better than having anyone get hurt!

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  10. WOW!!! It certainly seems that way. My OH used to work nights and it always seemed that way, especially when Lucas was a newborn baby. I think you are handling this awesomely xx #sharewithme

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    1. Thank you :) I'm sure it was difficult for you with a newborn baby and a husband working nights. That's a hard time to be the only one on duty!

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  11. Lucas says - I think you are being an AWESOME Mother and sending you MEGA High-5's xx
    Grace says - I am sure that the Daddy thinks you are awesome for managing so well when he's at work xx
    #sharewithme

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  12. Oh how I remember those days! I am retired now, and blog about our travels.....I found you on The happy gal, and I really enjoyed your blog! soooo funny! I hope you will stop by and take a peek at our adventures!
    http://karanandmichael.blogspot.com/2014/03/new-zealand-jewel-in-pacific_30.html

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    1. Thanks, Karan! I'll head over and check it out now! :)

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  13. Sorry it's always when the hubby is gone! My dad was a truck driver, so I'm SURE he missed out on all of these fun things too. My poor mother.

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  14. Yes, I can relate to some of those. My husband didn't have to travel only to a convention once per year, but we are never apart, so I used to hate that one week! However, now he has a new job and its in Texas while we're here in WNY. It's only been two months but in that short time, kids have been sick, running to appointments, selling the house, now missing him on a major holiday :(. I now see how good I had it when he was around! I'm glad to hear that your son is ok from his fender bender! I'm not looking forward to that day!

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    1. Having your husband in TX while you're finishing things up with the house sounds really hard! What a difference it will be when you're all together again. Hope the days pass quickly and everything goes smoothly with the move! :)

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    2. Thank you! Yeah I have to say, the kids have been pretty darn good for going through this too!

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  15. what a great post and the fact you are so cheerful is super!

    thanks for linking up with #MagicMoments x

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  16. Great post! My dh only travels once or twice a year. It's always the week before First Communion, of course. This year, I pushed the First Communion party back to the following weekend so he can HELP. :)

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    1. Good idea! I'm sure planning that without him home was a lot of work!

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