More changes just to keep things interesting

As life would have it, things change. Last week was no exception and my family is preparing for another change. My wife, who has worked for about 16 ( or so ) years as a nurse, has a new opportunity she has desired for quite some time. This opportunity has a few trade offs and benefits, however, as most do.

First off . . . my wife has generally only worked weekends. Monday thru Friday she never really had to get out of bed for any particular reason except to work on crafts or play Internet spades. However, in the event of a school break or a sick kid, there was always someone at home. That will change since her new job will require that she work daytime hours during the week.

Weekends . . . it was always kind of difficult to really enjoy the weekends as a family. With my wife at work every weekend we always had to schedule activities knowing that she would probably not be able to be there unless she managed to get the day off - without pay. It will be nice to be able to plan our weekends without that keeping us apart.

Will someone think of the children . . . In the past we only used day care right after my son was born. I was still an undergrad ( and working full-time ) and my wife worked 12 hour shifts as a nurse. So we used a part-time day care for those days we couldn't cover till my son was about 2 years old. When my daughter came along I had just started grad school and I stopped working to be Mr. Mom. We've never had the benefit of living near family, although I would much rather have family watch over my kids if I can't. Without jumping up on a soapbox, allow me to gripe about how expensive it can be. I'd love to write a long, bitchy post about how our society isn't set up to foster families . . . but what would be the point?

Overall, I expect it will have a positive effect on our household. Of course, some minor inconveniences along the way will rear their ugly head from time to time. But the one thing that I can expect is that we will always get through it. We always have. Above all my wife really deserved this. She's been a nurse working the floor, pushing pills, and dealing with the generous helping of crap that nurse's have thrust on them for a long time. She will now get her shot at being the boss - a Director of Nursing for an independent care facility. I fully expect her to rise to occasion.