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Fighters To Your Corners…
Posted under How I See It, Wife, Work by Mike 
As you may have read in previous posts I’m going a bit stir crazy. Being unemployed and my wife working summer school this year I’ve found that there are only so many walls in this house to paint.
This is a new situation for me. At first it has been fun, kind of an extended vacation. I thought how cool will this be. Off from work during the summer. Sunshine, beach, shorts, flip flops all day long.
The luster has definitely worn off. And my wife is not happy about it.
I have no interaction with anyone during the day. Other than television or the mailman who will not look me straight in the eye after I asked him to look at a mole I had.
So when she comes home, I smother her with questions about her day, or relate to her my latest blog information or what the dog did interesting that day. She just stares at me with that look of “You will die now if you don’t leave me alone for five minutes.”
This situation is very common. With the economy the way it is more couples are finding themselves with one or both spouses out of work. My friend Dan over at Really Worried Dad sent me an article from the Wall Street Journal the other day. Knowing my situation he thought this might be something the wife and I could use. He was right…
Take a few minutes and read it. The marriage you save might be your own…
Although we haven’t suffered layoffs, my husband had a major change in his schedule this summer, which allows him to be home most evenings and weekends. We’re not used to being together so much. At first it was great, but we’ve struggled a little bit with the need for space from each other. I’ve had to convince him it’s ok for us to go our separate ways sometimes. We’re not required to spend all of our time together, especially if we’re not enjoying it.
terri´s last blog ..Back from Vacation
So true! My dad has driven my mom nuts since his retirement. She does not enjoy being followed around in the makeup aisle.
cocotte´s last blog ..Random Sighting
Of course if I keep spending my working hours sending links of interesting stories to my Internet friends, I may soon be in the same boat as you…
Worried Dad´s last blog ..More Scary Things In Your Garden
I think I could be a worry free SAHD. My dream is to retire 3 years ago and fish or play golf. The only problem is retirement at my age doesn’t pay so well.
Otter´s last blog ..Hope is a Good Thing
Great perspective on the article!
Anne in SC´s last blog ..Birthday Surprises
I can’t even think about it – the idea of losing my job with no spouse as a back-up scares me silly.
secret agent woman´s last blog ..A little fun since that ugly Friday.
We were lucky that we planned for 5 years for my husband’s job-loss. When his number finally came up, we were prepared. The job market for engineers is not that great right now. He took a mid-life retirement, going on 4 years now, and stays home with the boys. I think he is ready to go back to work within the next year.
We cut expenses by taking our boys out of private school. Public school is better than expected. We also abolished After-Care & Summer “Camp” (more like day-care). Never built our dream house on the land we now occasionally drive by and wave at. At least we are debt-free.
Our boys seem to have a higher quality of life with one parent home. At least right now. In a few years, this won’t mean as much.
To keep his sanity, my husband has a bunch of household projects, is a frequent visitor to the library and keeps current with industry-related reading material. He also keeps up with former colleagues with regular lunches and emails.
I see the flip-side of what life would be like if I was home full-time. I also see the potential for much added stress and resentment. While this may not be the ideal situation, there’s always a bright side if you dig deep enough.
Make sure you take a few moments to enjoy this hopefully brief time of “freedom”.
maybe you should go work in a cigar shop or something? and come and clean my gutters.
this new place´s last blog ..Our friend Jack
Thanks for the link. I’m on my way to read the article.
I use to get funny looks from moms when I took my kids to the park during the day time. They probably thought I was a vampire or something. Apparently, dads can’t hang out the park during the day.
Daddy Forever´s last blog ..Syncables for Synchronizing Files on Multiple Computers
I would go insane. I stayed home a couple of times and turned on the TV. It was enough to get back out of the house. Daytime TV is not healthy.
We gotta get you out of the house.
OhCaptain´s last blog ..Not quite ready to give up on summer
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