A few months before I started home schooling Tim got a job that allowed him to work from home. He turned a small space in our bedroom into his home office and I turned our guest bedroom into a classroom. It worked out really well. I actually loved it. I loved home schooling and having the kids with me all day and I loved having Tim just down the hall doing his work without leaving home. I loved that at lunchtime Tim would come out and join us while we ate. I loved that when things went well with his work, (he was just starting out as a financial advisor, studying for his licenses and then trying to build a client base) he would come out and we would celebrate his successes together. I loved that our week started out together and ended together. I loved that we were together all the time in between. On Tuesday afternoon at 3 pm we were all home together. On Wednesday at 11 am we were all home together. It was cozy and comforting and after years of Tim rushing off to work and me dropping our oldest off to school, life was really family-centered.
Over the years things have changed, of course. Tim no longer works from the bedroom and I have had to move our classroom out of the spare bedroom to make room for our fifth child but I still prefer to have all my family home with me, if I can. This weekend, Tim is taking his youth group kids on a homeless retreat. It sounds like a very cool opportunity to learn about what life is really like for the homeless by eating next to nothing and sleeping in a field with little to no comforts. It will, I’m sure, be an eye opening weekend for them all. But, with Tim being gone over night, I am left home to worry. I don’t know how other women do it when their husband travel regularly. I really don’t like it when Tim is gone, even for just one night. It doesn’t seem right to say our bedtime prayers without him. It doesn’t feel right to climb into bed or to wake up the next morning without him here.
As much as I dread Tim’s business trips, which thankfully have been few and far between in our married life, I try to make the best of it. The kids and I are having a party without him this weekend. I bought us frozen pizzas, and slice and bake cookies, and borrowed a few movies from the library. So, while Tim is not sleeping on the hard, cold ground with an empty belly and nothing but the stars overhead, the kids and I will put on our p.j.’s, eat our pizza, and snuggle in front of the t.v. to watch our movies. I guess it seems silly that I was the one dreading this weekend. I am pretty sure I got the better deal this time around…but it still would have been way more fun with him here!
that's an eyes-wide-open retreat, when you actually ive like a homeless person! I too don't like those rare times when hubby is away overnight. all of a sudden, I hear noises and creaks, and really sense his absence.
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