Flashback Fridays: Sleepy Head

My husband is a good man.

Now you might think I am just saying that because I want something - like for him to do dishes tonight, or maybe a new pair of jeans, or maybe a shoulder massage that he hasn't promised me yet - but I really am doing nothing more than stating facts. You see, he works hard for our family so I can stay home with the kids.

Having one of the parents stay home is a sacrifice for everybody involved. Finances are tighter, there is less family time, and one spouse may be stuck working two jobs just to make ends meet. In 2011, my husband was working two jobs for most of it and at other times it was just really bad hours. Unfortunately, because we only had one car, this often times made it difficult being the stay at home parent. We had to plan for everything because he almost always had the car. If I needed it, I would have to drop him off at work. Yeah - at times it sucked and it really brought a whole new meaning to "Stay at Home" since without wheels, it was hard to get anywhere!

Today for Flashback Friday, I wanted to feature something I wrote back then called Sleepy Head. Often times I dabble in poetry and during this time, I did it just to attempt to stay awake. It was times like this, when I needed the car, that I would have to make sacrifices, like staying up way past my bedtime to pick him up from work. On normal days, this wouldn't bother me. Since we were staying with his parents at the time, I didn't have to disturb the kids. And usually, when he worked late, I stayed up late and wrote. This particular time, I was pretty sleepy and I was struggling to stay awake.

Yet, while I may sound like I am whining, I really just want to thank my husband for working so hard for our family. If it wasn't for his willingness to work two jobs or work bad hours, I would have had to rejoin the work force. For anybody that knows me, rejoining the work force wouldn't have been an issue. What was the issue is I am a workaholic and my job also had bad hours. I worked a lot of nights and weekends. It was the needs of the trade. I had to be available to cut hair when people needed their haircut, and frankly that isn't something that always gets done between the hours of 9 to 5.

While I was working, I missed a lot. I missed first steps, I missed school programs, and mostly I just missed time. When I got home the kids would be heading to bed. Sure, I would see them in the morning, but it was just to send them off to school. While most families had the entire weekend, sometimes I would have to work. And frankly, that is life. I can't complain because I loved my job and I loved my clients. My life became my job and family was falling to the sidelines. So, making the move to stay home was a big decision and not one I have regretted. However, the decision came with sacrifices. My husband had to pick up the slack and that meant long hours and odd hours of work for him.

Yet, when the reality gets you down, it doesn't hurt to have poetry to make situations a little lighter. So check out this piece that I wrote in the past. Times have changed, but this piece sure brings back memories for me. And if anything, I am sure others can relate to feeling like a Sleepy Head just like I did!

So go ahead and click...

Sleepy Head