Schedule Change

Matt has a job where he works four 12-hour shifts, rotating four on, four off.  He worked the day shift (7am-7pm) the entire time we were engaged, but the week we got married, his schedule shifted to nights (7pm-7am), and that's how his schedule remained for an entire year!  Last April, I blogged about the first day that Matt was able to "switch" his schedule back to days on his days off.  He tried several other times to switch to a "normal" schedule (sleeping at night, awake during the day) on his days off, but it typically didn't work very well.  That's gotta be hard on your body, so I tried not to push on this unless we had some important family event (like our honeymoon or my brother's wedding or my sister's graduation).  Needless to say, it was kind of a hard year for me!  I was often alone and felt like most of the household chores/errands/etc. fell to me even though I too had a full time job... and a second part-time job... and was often alone with caring for Kylee.  I didn't blame Matt (you're kind of limited on what you can do at 3am!) but it still felt like a lot.  And it was a bummer going to bed alone.  Every. Single. Night.

It goes without saying that I was super excited that Matt would finally be on days!  He switched the last week of January, and I have been thrilled!  It's still not ideal, but it's so much nicer than the alternative.  Matt now gets up around 4:45 am to leave for work and get a quick workout/shower in before he starts briefing at 6:48am.  This means that he is ready for bed around 9pm each night.  I decided, with Matt's change in schedule, to change my schedule too!  I've been going to bed with him and getting up around the same time as him each morning.  And I am happy to do it because I feel a little bit like a normal couple!  Also, I've found that I'm much more productive from 5-7am than I would have been from 9-11pm (where I typically would have just sat on the couch watching television or something after a long day of work).

Being on days also allows Matt to spend more quality time with Kylee.  Sometimes he would try to stay home with her on his days off, but he was so tired they didn't really do much.  Now they are able to spend all day together and can do fun things.  For example, they went to Jump Time twice in the last couple weeks, and Kylee has had a blast.  Kylee also had fun fixing the fence with daddy, helping him take down the Christmas lights (the snow finally melted off the roof!), and more.  I even came home one day this last week to dinner in the oven (pork roast and red potatoes) and a clean kitchen... how lovely!  I am looking forward to not taking the next six months for granted and spending as much time together as a family as we can!