Most of us had 9-5 Monday-Friday in mind when we got married and envisioned having children. The truth is a lot of our families throw the schedule right out the window. Military families, the fire service, law enforcement, the oil field… the list goes on. I may as well be speaking Greek to some of the parents at school or practice – a lot of people don’t get not having a full conversation with your spouse over the course of the week, being unable to commit months in advance to holiday plans, or juggling a rotating schedule.  Forget trying to explain how one week Wednesday night is a great night to attend a meeting, but the next week the same night same time is a no-go.

As one sweet friend said to me after a particularly draining week, “Welcome to being a married single-parent.”

I had never really thought of it that way, but it does make a little sense. I honestly don’t know how people do the 9-5 weekday box schedule because the firefighter schedule allows our family to have a lot of freedom, but I also cannot fathom being a true single-parent. I can tell you, it takes one amazing superhero of a Man, the best family anyone could be blessed with, and some ridiculously cool friends to keep this mama from losing it when work takes Man away and the home starts to get the best of me.