Curses! Foiled Again!

Like any good, prepared mother, I set my alarm to wake up waaaay before my children so I could do some work I needed to do well before they woke up. Well, guess who was up at exactly 5:32am? I mean, I was literally setting the kettle down to boil water for my coffee when I heard the little Footsteps of Doom coming down the stairs.

Okay, not really. I'm not the mom who approaches her day with dread, counting down the minutes until she can get her kids away from her, either to school or to their own beds. But still. Two minutes? It is much better than having them at my bedside first thing asking my why I never feed them, though! They got the Mommy time they needed and are now happily playing upstairs while I enjoy my (reheated) coffee. =)

Paul's in the field again this week. He's sleeping on his truck and making sure his guys are really super good at blowing stuff up, safely, accurately, etc. I did get the opportunity to help a couple of the families problem solve at the beginning of the week. One lady in particular sticks in my mind - she had scheduled herself to work every evening this week and was trying really hard to keep her husband out of the field using her work (not important - it never is, even if she were highly educated and not a waitress at a pancake house). I called to give her some numbers for childcare options and she was all "He's in the field ALL the time. That is so annyoing! It's so much more work for me, and for what?! I have KIDS, don't they understand that? He's gone ALL the time and even when he is home, sometimes he doesn't even get home until almost 7."

In a moment of impressive self-control, I didn't say any of the things I wanted to say, I just acknowledged her frustration and gave her some phone numbers.

Nevermind that "they" is my husband, who happens to also be married with two children.
Or that I would throw a parade and do back handsprings down my street if he came home at 7pm.
Or that the reason they are in the field is so that when the real stuff happens, their responses will be purely muscle memory.
Or that my husband (aka "they") isn't trying to ruin her life; he's trying to protect her husband's.
Or that in a handful of months, she's going to have some plans in place for evening childcare anyway.
Or that tens of thousands of Marine families have figured this out already and without the drama.
Or that even if they weren't preparing for a deployment, being ready is her husband's JOB. Being self-sufficient, independent and flexible is HER job.

....etc, etc. As it turns out the pancake place is able to still be open without her working there and she's going to switch her hours to daytime hours while he's in the field. Yay. =)