Tuesday, January 31, 2012

The count down is on for school.

I love spending time with my kids but at the end of the summer holidays I am a frazzled wreak and the count down to school starts. Summer holiday's for us are fun. A visit to nan(my mum) normally starts off the holidays spending Christmas with nan. Unfortunately this normally means Christmas without dad because he is working. I guess a lot of you reading this are thinking why do you spend Christmas without your husband but it just works out that way and it's better to go away than spend Christmas alone with your kids while your husband is pulling at 12hr shift on Christmas day. At least this way we have the fun of being with family. Summer holidays at nan's means we go swimming every single day, we do little fun day trips to fun places and do fun things.

The only downside is that I am on call 24/7 I don't get a break from anywhere between 7 days and 14 days. I am sure a lot of you are thinking that my mum would watch the kids for me if I wanted to go out and trust me she would. However it's no fun going out on your own and she lives in a rather small town.

So back home again and this is where things get interesting husband is still working and I am left on my own with kids who soon become bored and start fighting. Then there is the whole no sleeping thing which I am left to deal with on my own because husband is either working a dayshift and is tired and gone to bed or working a night shift and is just plain gone.

It's a constant repeat day after day after day. By the time school goes back I am sure I have gained more grey hair just from the stress. So the count down to school is now on with only 6 days left before they start back at school and I become bored and miss them.

Monday, January 30, 2012

Life as the shift workers wife.

Those of us who are wives of shift works will get this those of us who aren't will think I am whining but so be it.

Being a shift workers wife is hard work. You have to come up with routines for every different shift(thankful Husband works 12hr shifts days and nights). And switch routines according to the shift that they are on or if they are home. This means that I have 3 different routines that I have to try to stick to.

Day Shift Routine.
This occurs when Husband works 6:30am til 6:30pm so it's all on me. I get the kids up feed them breakfast get them ready for school, make lunches, pick them up, feed them afternoon snack, do home work or make sure they get to the activities they are doing. Feed them dinner, get them ready for bed then dad comes home. This is the bit where my day gets a bit hard. Dad is home and the kids all want to be with him, they want to tell him about their day what's happening in school(or what we have done today during the holidays) Dad eats while all the kids talk to him at once(chuckle). All of this while I am trying to get them to bed. Then the struggle beings. Husband wants time out to relax after work(which he is entitled) I want to relax after a stressful day with the kids(which I am not entitled) and the kids want dad. They want dad to put them to sleep to read and play. Husband is tired and wants to go to sleep. So by 9:30 he is in bed and I am still fighting to get the kids to go to sleep.

Night Shift routine.
This shift I HATE. I don't like being at home alone at night I never have since I moved to the "city" I grew up in the country where you could leave your doors unlocked. Here it's tighter than Fort Knox. Husband goes to work at 6:30pm comes home after 6:30am. This means the whole night time routine is left to me. To give husband props on night shift and school days he comes home makes the kids lunches then heads off to bed thus saving me one job. However it also means that once again I am on my own doing the before school routine. Weekends and holiday night shifts are the worst because you have to either keep the kids really quiet or take them out all day long so that he can sleep. During this shift we see Husband for all of 2 hours a day before he is off to work.

The days off routine
This consists of husband "helping" out when he is on days off. This however still leaves everything up to me to make it work. I don't get a sleep in or a day off(as proven today).

There is one more but it happens so rarely it barely rates a mention which is the his extended holiday routine but has only happened twice in 11 years.

I know I am lucky to have a husband that works and helps out at home but sometimes it gets hard and I feel like I am struggling up stream in a raging river with no life raft, rope or life preserver.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Does Him taking a day off mean I get a day off?

Well we shall see. Husband is taking the day off tomorrow because I didn't get much sleep last night due to the infestation of nits and the non sleeping 8 year old(who by the way fell asleep after 3am this morning).

I love that he has the ability to take time off when I really need him to but sometimes I think those days off are meant for him and not to help me. I have had times where I have been as sick as a dog and he still gets to sleep in even though he is suppose to be at home "helping" me.

Why do men think that if they are just there they are helping? They aren't either do something constructive that will actually help or move the fuck out of my way and let me get it done. So here is hoping I get to go to sleep early and he will stay up and I will get a sleep in while he gets up. But somehow I really don't think this is what will happen.

Almost 2am and I am still up.

How I wish I could blame this on insomnia but I can't. The trouble with me not sleeping tonight falls on child number 2 who is STILL awake. And if you read an earlier entry of mine about A party in my room! And mum's not invited you will know why I am still awake. I have to out last this child or he will wake the others to play with him. I really wish he would go to sleep.

Today isn't a great day lets just say it's been a tough one. Husband went to bed earlier due to morning shift tomorrow and now it's started raining and I had plans for tomorrow of getting out of the house with the kids to go play kick but now it seems like it's going to rain all day tomorrow as well.

When I am up this late is when I seem to do my musings. Which again is not so great when all you want to do is sleep because it keeps your mind busy. I worry about things that I really shouldn't worry about but then I wouldn't be me if I didn't worry.

What's the last thing a mum wants to find in her hair at 3am in the morning?

HEAD LICE.

My young had head lice today and I went through everyone's hair and she was the only one with them. I got Husband to check my hair for "bugs" and he goes nope nothing there but I got the head itches so I thought bugger it I will run a nit comb through my hair and I had "bugs" URGH. I HAVE WAIST LONG HAIR. 55 mins later I am de loused.

Now I am off to check on child 2 and hope like hell he is finally asleep.

Friday, January 27, 2012

Visitors.

So I am getting visitors today. I had assumed that they would be here between 1pm and 2pm but no I get a text today informing me they will be here at 6pm oh and more than likely staying the night(which was news to me good thing I didn't have any other plans) So here I sit at 6:48pm and they still haven't arrived and no text explaining that they would be late or anything.

Nope I am suppose to sit here and wait till they get here. If it was anyone other than family I would be seriously telling them to go fuck themselves. But you can't do that with family. So I call my mum(since it's her sister coming) and ask if she has ever been on time and the answer I got was no. Urgh.

Nef gun+ boobs= OUCH

So you have all heard of nerf guns right. The new crazy for Adults and kids alike. Here is a story for women. Last Sunday Husband and I were playing with my Nephew's Nerf guns. We were being rather silly shooting each other. He had a revolver type one and I have a pump action shotgun one. This is where the OUCH comes into it. In my haste to load the gun I put it close to my boobs pulled pushed and got my boob stuck in the mechanism. I almost screamed from the pain it cause quickly releasing my boob I instantly started to bruise.

The bruise started off looking like a hickey then it went blue then brown now it's a yellowy brown and it still hurts :(.

So there is a lesson in this by all means play with nerf guns just don't put them near your boobs.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

So it's Australia Day.

Yay Public holiday, for those who work public holiday pay rates(even better). My Australia however consists of waking up later than I would like thanks to child number 2's decision to stay awake past 2am. Husband asleep on the couch in the lounge after a night shift so I sent him to bed with him mumbling something about helping out a mate a some such time as he wakes up.

Later we are heading to the in laws for a BBQ which will be great(really I do mean great). But other than that it's just another normal day in the life of me. Other than getting a message from one of my cousins that she and my Aunt are coming to visit me on Saturday. Thank goodness for the 2 days warning because my house is a bomb site and if it's not clean(sparkling clean) my mum is going to hear about it(her sister).

Is it school time yet? I love my kids so much but sometimes they are a bit much even for me to handle. Today has consisted of child number 3 screaming out loudly as soon as no one does what she wants as soon as she wants it "EVERYBODY HATES ME WAAAHAAAAAAAAAA". Then followed by fight fight fight fight fight.

I do feel for child 3 being the youngest she is made to play every single game her elder bother and sister want but as soon as she wants them to play a game with her they don't want to. Poor baby. Child 1 has been made on occasion these holidays as punishment to play Barbie with her younger sister. And the more she argues with me about it the longer she has to play. It started off as 30 minutes(not that hard) by the time she had finished arguing with me it was 10 hours worth of playing Barbies she know owes her sister.

Thankfully last night was Husbands last night shift and he is now on a 4 day break. In which he will sleep to "recover" from night shift so my life really won't change that much.

Party in my room! Mum's not invited.

So last night child number 2 and child number 3 decided to have a party. I of course wasn't invited since it was after I had gone to bed. Now I know what your thinking why go to bed so early and leave the kids up?(right I know you are thinking it)

Well here's the thing I didn't go to bed early at all in fact after sending the kids to bed at 9:30pm(since it's still holidays) they were still awake at 12:30am when I ended up sitting in the middle of the hallway until they were both asleep. At 2:30am I went to bed(damn insomnia). Apparently child number 2 woke up and instead of coming to get me they decide to go visit child number 3 and wake them up. I am a heavy sleeper(a bomb could go off and I wouldn't hear it) so I didn't hear a thing. But Husband who is currently doing night shift comes home and finds child number 3 greeting him at the door. Has breakfast with them gets them back to sleep after hearing how they stayed up all night long. So children 2 and 3 decide that they want to sleep the day away because they only had a little sleep last night. I however have other plans and wake them early. At least tonight they were asleep early and I am hoping a repeat of last night doesn't happen again.

About me

Ok since this is my first ever blog I will tell you a little about me.

I am an almost 31 year old mother of 3 children and the wife of one very dedicated shift worker.

Husband has been a shift worker for 11 years now, I have known nothing else but this life with him. You think by now I would be use to it but I am really not.

Like most mothers I have my good days and my bad days then there is the OMFG will anything ever go right day. Thankfully those OMFG days are very rare.

Husband and I have been together for 11 years and married for 7.