Tuesday, September 6, 2011

A Day in the Life of an LEO family

This morning HF got home from working 7pm-5am. His shift is supposed to end at 3am, but we know that 3am is aka 5am for whatever reason (calls, reports, relief doesn't show...). When he got home, he couldn't go to sleep because he was all amped up for some reason. He watched an episode of Top Shot then woke me up at 6:30 am (wink, wink). He tried to rest while I got started with my day, but to no avail. He did some emails and phone calls, made lesson plans for his R.A.D. class, then got in the shower, ate lunch, then went to department training from 1pm to 5pm. He had just enough time to come home and get a bite to eat in his tummy and make another phone call before heading off to teach a R.A.D. class from 7 pm to 9 pm. He will get home somewhere around 9:30, but he can't crash just yet. He has to prep all his stuff for SWAT training tomorrow morning (clean his guns, pack his gear just so, etc. etc. . .). Somewhere in between there he will eat, hydrate, and hopefully crash and sleep really well tonight. Apparently I snore now.
This is how my day went. I was woken much earlier than I would've like to have been by HF. Then I had to get the kids dressed and fed. I took my daughter to school at 8:15 am, picking up a friend's son to watch while his parents are in Hawaii. I drop the daughter off at school. When I get home, I make sure the boys are squared away. Teeth brushed, hair combed, breakfast dishes taken care of. They play for awhile. But I need to go grocery shopping for the week. We go grocery shopping, we get home and Luke has to go to afternoon kindergarten. He is carpooling today. I'm doing pickup at the end of school. After picking him up 2 1/2 hours later, I head over to my daughter's school to pick her up. She goes to piano lessons. We get home at almost 5:00 pm. I make egg burritos for dinner. A bunch of neighborhood kids come over to play. HF comes home to eat, the kids made a terrible mess. It's time to clean up. It's time for homework and practicing. It's time for stories, scripture reading, wrestling, and baths. I tuck the kids in bed in different rooms between three flights of stairs. It's 8:30 pm. The kids get out of bed for water and potty breaks and hugs. I have much to continue doing, but I am exhausted. I sit on the couch to rest for "just a moment". I watch Billy the Eterminator on Netflix. I can't stop watching it. I'm appalled at the sheer volume of rodents and other pests that reside in Louisiana. It's 9:30 pm. HF gets home and I wonder if he's thinking I've been there on the couch all day.

We both have hard jobs. Is one more important or more difficult than the other? That's one of life's great debates! They are different, but we both have vital roles to play in our marriage, individual lives, and as parents. Some days are busier than others. Some days are dead. But this was today. A day in the life of our little LEO family.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love the "wink, wink."

Slamdunk said...

I think you need a full family support staff with that schedule. Having kid extra activities certainly makes things more complicated.

My son enjoys Billy as well; bring on the creepy crawlies.

Jenney said...

I hear you. I feel like I'm running in circles, and a cop's schedule does NOT help things. He's been working tons of overtime, I missed kindergarten round up due to a last minute change in his schedule, and it seems like all he does is work, work-out, and do SWAT. Speaking of which we are supposed to go out of town in a few weeks and have a family weekend together, complete with a trip to the zoo. Tickets are bought. Other families involved. And SWAT training, the BIG one for the year...has been rescheduled for that weekend. I could just scream.

Mrs. Gumshoe said...

Busy, busy! God bless these LEOs and God help us mamas! :)

Anonymous said...

Yep sounds familiar. I totally crash around 9:30 with much to do. I figure my job (at home) is not as dangerous but it has it's adventures for sure. All the best, in the life as LEO family.
Hey I moved my blog to wp. you can click to visit.
Cheers!

Natalie said...

Whew, that made me exhausted just reading it!

I just hope that's not the everyday norm, because as much as I can relate to it (almost eerily so...) we do have the occasional break inbetween for downtime and nice, quiet days. Here's hoping that you get a few of those too!