And a lot more expensive.
After a year of working opposite shifts the husband and I are going to be on the same schedule. Back when I had bubby and had to go back to work earlier than I would have liked to (when he was only 8 weeks old) my husband quit his job to spend the summer home with the kids. It was wonderful, but we were really strapped.
Once Bubby was at an age where we felt a little more comfertable leaving him with someone else my husband went back to work. We decided working opposite shifts made sense for us at the time because the kids would still be spending the majority of the time with one of us, and we'd only have to put them in care for 3 hours a day, which was much easier on the finances than full time care for two kids.
We lucked out and found a fabulous mama to take care of the kidlets in the afternoons for the couple of hours our work schedules overlapped. It was exhausting on us both. I'd work all day and fly solo with the two of them in the evenings and Dad would do the same in the mornings and then work until late at night. Combined with kids that prefer not to sleep, or rather sleep with us, we were both running on empty most of the time.
Random kid pic, because I cant help myself. But you knew this.
But as of this week we got news that Dad is going to move to days, meaning we get to see each other more and actually spend our evenings together, making life so much easier on all of us. It also means that we will send Boo to preschool for two days a week which we've been wanting to do for a long time now.
We are so very excited, but also a little scared at the thought of putting both of them in full time care again. It's a tough call to make - deciding between never seeing each other but having the kids at home for the majority of the time and having them in care full time but being together as a family in the evenings.
This weekend we were all sitting down together to eat dinner and Boo looks up at us and exclaims "Look! We're eating just like a family!" And then I knew we had made the right decision.
Random again, but I couldn't post one and not the other. Now that wouldn't be fair, would it?
The new schedule hasn't started just yet, but it will soon. I'm so glad to get my husband back, even if it means a tighter budget.
~Mama A.
