AHH, THE FIRE LIFE

I am the wife of a fireman.

He is the hero in our lives and Sister, especially, is absolutely smitten with his job. She is constantly asking to go to the fire station so she can see the fire engine. She even knows the difference between the engines and aid cars - which I think is impressive since at her age I can't imagine they look TOO different, what with their red paint and flashing lights, but she gets it.

Brother, only 1, really seems to eat up the testosterone heavy atmosphere and is mesmerized by the manliness hanging out in their la-z-boys.It's a fun thing to have your kids so intimately associated with firefighters. They are the good guys, always helping the community. They are the cool guys, driving fire trucks and putting out fires. And most importantly in my life, present fathers, home nearly 2/3rds of a month.

I am super grateful to be able to raise my kids side-by-side with my husband. He is equally involved in all aspects including late night wake-ups and making dinner. He takes the kids for morning playdates, swim sessions and trips to Best Buy & Home Depot (which Sister thinks is the COOLEST!).

People always assume I have it easy because Husband is home so much. And on many days, I do have it easy. But when Husband is gone, he's gone. Unless my kids are enroute to the ER, he's not coming home or calling in sick to help. He is gone for more than 24hrs at a time when he's working. These days (though only 9 days a month) of long single-parent dynamics can quickly wear me down and some days I find myself watching the clock a little too closely.

The kids get tired of me too. They deal with me entirely and SO look forward to Daddy walking through the door in the morning. They like the refreshing change of rules, rough-housing free-for-alls and Daddy's way of handling things. I look forward to hiding in the bathtub, or spending a few hours at Starbucks.It's a wonderful opportunity we have to spend co-parenting our kids. On his long stretches of time off, between 4 & 6 days at a time, we can plan mini-trips and overnights. We can plan zoo outings and picnics to beat the weekend crowds. How awsome is that?

Just don't ask how awesome it is when my husband is at work, I have 2 sick kids to get into the tub and we're nearing the after-dinner-meltdown.