So what does your husband Do?

Kelly - posted on 03/05/2009

Mine DH is a Chief Scientist w/ Gov't. He works in CA. Yes loves his job, hates being away from us. Thank goodness for technology! Kids love to cam w/ him on SKYPE! They will have cookies & milk with him a couple nights a week. And thank goodness for cell-cell plans on Sprint! Daddy is always a call away, but we all miss him. He comes home ev other wknd. for a couple days. xoxo

Grayzie - posted on 03/03/2009

My hubby is a PROGRAM MANAGER working in Mid East for abt 16 yrs now. He has been working away from home when he was 17 as he was in RAF. We used to live with him as family overseas. It's been 2 yrs now we r away from each other and he really hates that. He's a "FAMILY GUY". He's being sentimental when he got time off from work and feeling down. It's like suicidal.Lol. He often travels now on his new work. He's sick of it.  We both don't like to be away from each other. He really wants to enjoy life being with his family as he is getting older now and our son is getting bigger. He wants us back as complete family again...

Tennille - posted on 03/02/2009

Hi all.

My DH is a medical laser engineer. He travels around Australia and NZ servicing medical lasers. Normally away a couple of nights a week or the whole week. He was in the Defence Force when DS1 was born and was away for months at a time, so this is a lot better deal for us all!

All I have to do now is get him to "laser' off some stretch marks and I'd be a happy mamma!!

Tennille - posted on 03/02/2009

Hi all.

My DH is a medical laser engineer. He travels around Australia and NZ servicing medical lasers. Normally away a couple of nights a week or the whole week. He was in the Defence Force when DS1 was born and was away for months at a time, so this is a lot better deal for us all!

All I have to do now is get him to "laser' off some stretch marks and I'd be a happy mamma!!

Robin - posted on 03/02/2009

Quoting Whitney:

My Husband is a commercial diver and is gone for weeks at a time.  He spend most of his time in the gulf of Mexico repairing oil rigs.  It looks like he will be going to China in the future though which will take him away for 6 weeks instead of his normal 3 weeks.  He loves what he does but I think it is getting harder on him as our daughter grows.

Hey Whitney!  My DH is also a commercial diver in the GOM.  Right now he doesn't have a set 'rotation' but mostly we just plan for 4-6 weeks gone 4-7 days home.

Carmen - posted on 03/02/2009

My husband is a truck driver/heavy equipment operator for the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission. He travels all over the state of PA working in state parks and fish hatcheries, etc.. He leaves on monday morning and gets home thursday afternoon. It took us 14 years to get pregnant so he is having a hard time being away from the little guy and would love to get a position where he is home everynight but that can take years. Our son is 8 weeks old and it is hard being home by myself most of week..I love the break when dad gets home.

Susanti - posted on 03/01/2009

My hubby is a mine geologist in western australia - he's been working away for the past 3 years. He used to work 2 weeks away 1 week home, but now we are lucky because when he moved to this job just when our daughter was born, his roster changed to 9 days on 5 days off :) this has made such a difference because he's home every second weekend now. We are alot happier with this roster of his.

Whitney - posted on 02/25/2009

My Husband is a commercial diver and is gone for weeks at a time.  He spend most of his time in the gulf of Mexico repairing oil rigs.  It looks like he will be going to China in the future though which will take him away for 6 weeks instead of his normal 3 weeks.  He loves what he does but I think it is getting harder on him as our daughter grows.

Priscilla - posted on 02/25/2009

My husband is a construction worker (commercial) and we live in Detroit where the construction industry has flatlined, so he now has to travel for the company he works for. Right now he is 15 hours away and the kids (8, 3, 3 and 16 moths) only get to see him on breaks and about every two to three months. I am happy that he has a job, but for me it is lonely and my kids miss him a great deal!

Shauna - posted on 02/21/2009

MY DH is a safety inspector for the FAA. We are greatful for his job in today's economy but he travels about 70% of the time. He deoes enjoy the work but misses out on a lotof our 4 year old's activities and daily life.

Nikki - posted on 02/21/2009

My husband is an engineer on large ships. He likes his job especially when they travel overseas. And I am enjoy that part too!! He brings me back great things from all over the world!! It takes some adjusting but we have learned to embrace his job and go with the flow!!

Tami - posted on 02/18/2009

My hubby is a self-employed consultant in the pharmaceutical industry. He occassionally works from home, but makes better money on the road. He loves his job and I love the frequent flier miles that allow us to take vacations together. Our kids are getting older (oldest is 19 and youngest is 10) so we are able to get away. We have found that to be extremely important given his traveling all the time.

Cori - posted on 02/18/2009

My DH is a Procurement Manager and just recently accepted a position in another province that requires him to be there 2 1/2 weeks a month and home for a week and a half.  We've never lived apart since we moved in together over 10 years ago.  This is a temporary arrangement (18 months) but it would not surprise me if he'll take similar positions for a different project after this one ends.

Roxanne - posted on 02/18/2009

My husband is a network security consultant for a large internet security company. He travels about 75-80% of the time. He leaves out Sunday afternoon and is home late Friday night. So we really usually only have Saturdays to spend together and he is usually busy, unpacking, repacking, cathing up on paper work and sleeping on that day so we really dont get to spend much time togeter. He does get weeks here and there where he is home and during that time I call him "mr. fun guy". We have a 2 year old (will be in March) little girl and during the weeks he is home he takes on the role of "I'll do the fun things with you". It is really hard on me being a single mom most of the time. He started this job while I was in my 3rd trimester of my pregnancy. I remember crying to him and begging him not to take the job, he of course did not listen. He felt it was the best opputunity for us. The salary he was going to get allowed me to not have to go back to work and be a full time stay at home mom. I am blessed to have this opportunity but also very saddened at loosing my "partner". It is so hard being alone all the time!

Zoe - posted on 02/18/2009

my husband is a Telecoms Consultant and can be away any length of time. We have it better now cause he is based in one country and I live in another and he comes home every two weeks. Sometimes I think he really loves his job and others I think its just what he does....

Cassie - posted on 02/17/2009

My DH is an aircraft mechanic.  He has been traveling for the past 3+ years.  It was 6 weeks gone and then home working from the hangar.  For the past 2 years he has been working in Kuwait, Dubai, Sharjah.  He is gone for various amounts of time.  100 days here, 80 days there.  Last trip he was home for 12 days - sick the whole time & still did computer work and took phone calls - and was called away again.  That trip was supposed to be 3 weeks.  As of Thurs he will be gone 5 weeks.   In the last 3 years he has missed every birthday, anniversary and holiday at some point.  The last big one was Christmas.  He has never missed it.  He missed the youngest playing basketball for two years.  Only got to see the oldest play about 3 baseball games last year.  Also missed cub Scouts for 2 years. 

Something major always happens when he is gone is seems.  Car problems, house problems, etc.  Just when I think the last trip was the worst, I am proved wrong.  This trip the boys have not gotten to talk to him once.  I have only talked to him on the phone twice.  Webcam worked when he was in Miami, but not in the Middle East.  The connection is too slow. 

I keep reminding myself and the boys that we are lucky that daddy is working.  The oldest is starting to understand (as well as a 9 yo can) that the economy and employment situation is bad.  Still doesn't help when they need daddy love and hugs. 

Mom's rock!

Stacy - posted on 02/16/2009

First, I have to say that I'm blessed with a wonderful, giving man who believes in marriage and family based on God's Word.  It's been about 18 months since my own mistakes almost cost us these precious gifts.  But my man did not give up or walk away, he believed in me and our marriage, and we are now living a more stable and fulfilled life than either of us ever expected.

With that said, having a husband who travels and is out of the home 50% of the time is very difficult.  My man works in the corporate office of a major retailer.  His responsibilities are various and numerous.  Most weeks, he is in that office.  But he could be anywhere in the country with just a phone call.  His schedule requires him to be on a plane first thing Monday morning and he usually returns late Thursday night or Friday. He LOVES his work and even likes the people he works with.  This is unique for him...he has spent a number of years in less than satisfactory work environments. The work is challenging, rewarding and the company is strong (a real plus in this economy).

Our two daughters, 12 and 9, adore their father and want more of him.  The are willing (maybe even anxious) to move to the city where his office is located, so that we can all be together.  And we have the same struggles I've seen mentioned here: missing him, dealing with the kids schedules on my own, managing the house on my own, keeping communication strong when we have phone and email only, adjusting when he leaves and readjusting when he comes home, making him feel like he is a priority when he comes home, etc.

Thanks for making this community available.  I look forward to sharing and learning how to cope.

Rachel - posted on 02/15/2009

My husband is a producer at ESPN. Depending on what sport he is covering, depends on his travel.

Amy - posted on 02/13/2009

MY HUSBAND WILL BE TRAVLING WITH HIS BAND . THEY ARE GOING TO BE MAKING A NEW ABLUM THIS MONTH. I WILL MISS HIM WHILE HE TRAVELS BUT I KNOW HE NEEDS THIS TIME TO HIMSELF WITHOUT KIDS AND ME BUGGING HIM..

Renee - posted on 02/13/2009

My husband is a welder, currently working in the diamond mining industry. He works on the other side of Canada (we live in Newfoundland) in the Northwest Territories. He is on a fixed schedule of gone for three weeks and home for two.

He absolutely loves his job and doesn't mind he travelling at all. Not yet anyways. I'm sure he will hate it after so long. We are hoping for him to get something closer but the way the economy is right now, that's not very hopeful. He hates being away from us but the two weeks that he is home is great because we have time to do whatever we want together!

Deborah - posted on 02/13/2009

My husband is a network engineer for a Cisco reseller. His travel ranges from home all week to gone all week and we never really know where he'll be the next day. The not knowing if he's going to be home or not is probably the hardest thing for us. He loves his job, but not the travel.

Ju - posted on 02/11/2009

Hi, my husband is a cable tech supervisor with a cable construction company. he has been working for this company for over 15 yrs and he loves it...just doesn't love being away from home for at least mon-fri sometimes longer, depending on the job and location. the company has been good to him overall, so we can't complain. right now i think we are all blessed to have husbands who are still employed and i am blessed to be able to stay at home still with our toddler.

Helen - posted on 02/11/2009

My Husband works drilling in mines, he is on a roster system so is away for two weeks and home for one, he enjoys the job, the money is good, but we all hate that he has to be away to do it

Nicole - posted on 02/08/2009

Quoting Sarah:

My husband works for  an NGO in Afghanistan, we are currently investigating moving to Dubai so that we can see him most weekends rather than every 8 weeks of so - anyone have any experience of living in Dubai with a baby??  This is the first time he will be travelling over there since the baby has been born and I am going to miss him and are new family unit like crazy.

Hi Sarah,

My husband is currently in Kuwait, which is close to Dubai. He has been to Dubai and says that it is really nice, but there is always tons of construction. It is a very wealthy country. In Kuwait, there are families that live with their husbands. I am friends with one of them. If you are interested in learning about families in Kuwait, I can give you more information.

Nicole

Nicole - posted on 02/08/2009

My husband is a Department of Defense employee. He is currently stationed in Kuwait for the next 2 years. He luckily was able to come home for Christmas, but missed the birth of our second child by a day. He does like his job, but he hates being away from his family. He hopes that after this deployment to Kuwait, we will be stationed in a place where he will not have to travel.

Kelly - posted on 02/08/2009

My partner, Pete is an interstate truck driver. He is currently working on local deliveries in Sydney, but 1-2 trips interstate every wk and he is working towards getting his semi's licence in the next 6 mths. Once he gets the licence, he will be going on long-haul drives and will be on 2wks on and maybe 2wks off, depending on whether he stays with his current employer or changes to a new one. We are currently in the middle of moving to Sydney so that he can be home a lot more often and he can see his little boy. As he has to keep working i am back up in Brisbane with our son, packing up all our belongings for the move, and he is working in Sydney. It is hard knowing that i wont see him that much once he gets his semi licence, but it is a dream of his that he has always had and i dont want to stand in the way of him fulfilling that. Hopefully i will be able to get some advice from this "circle of moms", on how to keep myself "chipper" for him when he is home and try not to make things any harder than they need to be.

Janet - posted on 02/08/2009

How fun! We were planning to move over with him, but he wound up being furloughed.. so obviously we scrapped that idea. It was a cool place though - and I was able to stay a couple of nights in the neighborhood where he lived in Osaka (Izumisano City) - it was a blast. I wanted to go to H.K. too ~ maybe next time.

Jennifer - posted on 02/07/2009

Hey Janet,

I was in Japan for two years and attended and american school there, then we went to Frankfurt where I graduated.

Japan is awesome, so much to do that it blows my mind!  Wish his company would open an office over there.  We visited Hong Kong while we were there, and I would love to go back.

Jen

Janet - posted on 02/07/2009

Quoting Jennifer:

I am in the same boat, almost.  My husbands company is looking to open an office in Dubai, and house families over there.  Can you give me some insight as to what to expect? I spent my life in Asia and Europe, but I am guessing this will be complete culture shock!

Hey Jennifer, which part of Asia?  Al spent the better part of last year in Japan, China, Thailand... I was able to join him over there for three weeks in Japan with our youngest before he was furloughed at the end of October.  It was a fascinating trip!  I would still love to see Thailand and other parts of Asia.

~janet

Jennifer - posted on 02/07/2009

Quoting Sarah:

My husband works for  an NGO in Afghanistan, we are currently investigating moving to Dubai so that we can see him most weekends rather than every 8 weeks of so - anyone have any experience of living in Dubai with a baby??  This is the first time he will be travelling over there since the baby has been born and I am going to miss him and are new family unit like crazy.

Hey Sarah,

I am in the same boat, almost.  My husbands company is looking to open an office in Dubai, and house families over there.  Can you give me some insight as to what to expect? I spent my life in Asia and Europe, but I am guessing this will be complete culture shock!

Sarah - posted on 02/06/2009

My husband works for  an NGO in Afghanistan, we are currently investigating moving to Dubai so that we can see him most weekends rather than every 8 weeks of so - anyone have any experience of living in Dubai with a baby??  This is the first time he will be travelling over there since the baby has been born and I am going to miss him and are new family unit like crazy.

Desiree - posted on 02/06/2009

My wonderful husband works for The Shaw Group out of LA as a Safety Manager, right now he is in NJ but was in Conn. And gods nows where he will be in the next couple years.

Sherry - posted on 02/06/2009

My husband works as a government contractor,also,& travels all over the world to work on secure satellites at military bases. He also instructs the military how to use and maintain the equipment. He travels a lot inside the U.S., but also out of the country. When he goes out of the country it is usually for 4-6 weeks at a time. He leaves for Germany in March. He has to go to Saudi in April, I think. He has several trips to North Carolina, El Peso and Oklahoma to sandwich in between his "out of the country" trips. My youngest is 12, so it isn't near as hard as it would be if we had younger children. Kyle is the last one home so I can spend quality time with him and we do lots of fun things that most moms don't get to do with their tween-agers. Water parks, play ball, Walk the Dog, learn to yo-yo..ha ha.... I have a full time job and he has some "alone time" but we have a blast during our "down time" also. :) It helps that I love Football and he plays on the Jr. High Team!
When my hubby is home, we spend a lot of time just sitting around the house and enjoying family life. His son, age 13, visits at times and we enjoy that as well. However, since his son lives in Arizona, he gets to see him more than we do because the majority of his in-state trips are to Texas, anyway. :)

Susan - posted on 02/06/2009

My husband is in engineering with an airline manufacturing company.  He usually travels to the East Coast from the West Coast and spends two weeks away at a time.  His time home can be from 2 to 10 days and then gets sent away again.  We went from no travel or overtime to this schedule overnight and it has been a difficult adjustment.  He is a man that compartmentalizes his life and finds it hard to think about home when he is at work.  We have two kids ages 5 and 2 and the 2 year old, boy, is acting out quite a bit as a way to cope.  There is a possiblility that his travel can become international in the next couple of months and we are really not looking forward to dealing with those time differences.

Kimberly - posted on 02/05/2009

My husband is a Project Manager for high rise construction. He has to travel every other week to Chicago for 3 days. I don't know if I would say he loves his job but it makes it so I can be home with our two children. Sometime in the future he would love to find a job where he doesn't have to travel but with today's economy, we're just happy he still has a job.

Janet - posted on 02/04/2009

Hey all ~ mine is an airline pilot. He spent last year living in Japan and commuting back to the U. S. about every six weeks or so. We have two kids ages 4-1/2 and 20 mos. I know what some of you are saying about the support issue - my nearest family is about 3 hours away.

Kim - posted on 02/04/2009

My husband is a pipefitter/superviser for powerplants and refineries. He's at a powerplant right now that is only 2 1/2 hours from our hometown. He comes home on Friday evening about 8pm and leaves again Sunday about 6pm. But, that job is about over so no telling where he will go next. It could be anywhere. We'll just have to see. But, his next job will probably be in another state, so we won't see him as often. Luckily, we only have our son at home. Our three daughters are grown and moved out of our house.

Ann Marie - posted on 02/04/2009

My husband is a pilot and is gone about have the month. He'll be gone fomr 3 to 7 days at a time. I think he likes his job, but he doesn't like being away from home. It's even harder for him to be away now that we have a 2 week old.

Christine - posted on 02/04/2009

Speaking of moving - when I was pregnant with our second son, my husband was in Iraq. I was taking our 2-yr old to daycare and working full time, while packing up to move after having the baby. Suddenly, I was put on bedrest, and had to quit my job early. I had to hire a stranger to come help me pack. My husband made it home on leave in time to do the actual move, while I stayed in bed at a friend's house. He was able to stay for the birth, but had to return 2 days later. The next time he saw our baby, he was 8 months old.

Sabrina - posted on 02/04/2009

My hubby is a senior associate for KPMG. When I was pregnant with our second child we were in the process of moving from LA to Mass. I had to do EVERYTHING dealing with the move...AND with my son who was only 18mths!! Now that we are in Mass, he still travels, but has cut down to 2-4 days a week. I'll take it!! :O)

Angie - posted on 02/03/2009

My DH is a foreman/engineer for a railroad company. Sometimes we move with him and we are together, but other times he is away and visits us every other weekend. We use to ALL go tto, but now that I have a schoolage child it is harder. My dad was in the same bussiness and it was always hard on us kids to move every year or 2.

Christine - posted on 02/03/2009

My husband works as a government contractor, and travels all over the world to work on weapons at military bases. He is gone usually from 2-8 weeks at a time. He hates to travel, hates to be away from home, but likes his job. We have 2 boys, aged 3 & 6, and I work full time. Our day begins at 5:30, since I start work at 7am. I am lucky to have a very good daycare, and can drop off both kids in the morning. My oldest goes to kindergarten from there, and then gets dropped off there, where I pick them up after work. The thing I did to make the biggest difference in our lives was to change bedtime from 8pm to 7pm. There is still whining in the morning, but it is a little better with this schedule.

Wendy - posted on 02/03/2009

Another wife of a pilot here. He is on a 7on/7 off schedule which is tolerable I guess. Like others we are just grateful for a good job with good benefits. I quit my CPA career to stay at home with our daughter and he often tells me that it is much easier for him to leave knowing that I am there caring for her 24-7 but he still struggles with missing chunks of her life like that.

Beverly - posted on 02/03/2009

My husband is an airline pilot. He has been Captain for Expressjet (they do business as Continental Express) for several years now. He has 9 years total with the company.

Although there is the dream of one day working for a major airline, we are just happy that we are both employed int his ecomony.

Anyway, he is gone 4 days a week every week. Usually, he is home weekends but not always. He loves his job and I went into the marriage knowing the ups and downs of his job. I like having the time alone with Willow but it's hard because I never get a break and being a single mom 4 days a week is hard.

User - posted on 02/02/2009

My husband is an airline pilot and is usually gone 2 weeks, then home 2 weeks.  He's had jobs with shorter trips, but his schedule was always less predictable and overall he had fewer days at home.  At least now it's much easier to plan things and family vacations are pretty easy.  I work full time, so it's great for the kids that he has so much time to spend with them whe he's home.

Jennifer - posted on 02/02/2009

Quoting Amy:

My husband is an Engineer/Project Manager in the oil/gas industry, and he travels for up to 3 weeks at a time only to come home for 2 or 3 days and leave again.  It is very hard at times not having him here with me, and our kids (ages 7 & 1), but I have to admit ...our relationship is stronger then ever.  We value the time we have together and make the most of it.

Hi Amy-

My husband is also an Engineer/Projects guy in Oil&Gas.  He's currently travelling.  We moved from the states to Milan Italy a year ago, and now we are moving to The Hague in The Netherlands in 2 weeks time.  Its a real bummer to live in a foreign country with your husband travelling.  I have a 2 year old and another on the way in June!  I can't wait for my husband to get home on Friday!

Elizabeth - posted on 01/31/2009

My husband is a helicopter pilot flying in the Gulf of Mexico. He's gone two weeks, and home two weeks. It's really nice that when he's home, he's really home... but the two weeks he's gone are hard. He's been on contracts lately where he's offshore most of the time, so I don't get to talk to him as much either, because he can't use his cell. He's started to look for something that will have him home more, but he's trying to get as much work done now before Stefan gets old enough to really miss him.

Staci - posted on 01/31/2009

Wow, after reading all these, I feel really blessed. My DH is the Chief Pilot for a corporate flight department. It has turned out to be the best job ever. He's on salary, and only flies about 3-10x a month. He's almost always home at night. Only rare occasions any more that he's gone overnight.

When he worked for an airline the story was much different! He'd leave sunday afternoon to sit in Salt Lake (we live in oregon), and come home friday eve. That was aweful! Luckily, we didn't have kids yet. After reading the other posts, I can't complain!!

Pamela - posted on 01/30/2009

Quoting Renee:

My husband is a traveling pipeline welder.  During my pregnancy I was living in a suburb of Chicago while my husband was working outside of Denver, CO.  It was hard to deal with everything without him there.  Even more so for him....he came home for a weekend and saw my pregnant belly for the first time.  I think it finally hit him when I was 7 months pregnant!  Right now he's trying to find work that is close to home because he knows he won't be able to stay away from me and his new daughter Hailey.  He will probably end up out of state, but bills have to get paid somehow.  He loves his job, he's just fighting with being away from his family now.  I think we'll be able to make it out okay.

My hubby is a welder by trade, but had to quit welding b/c it was making him go blind. He had been welding for 18 yrs when his eye doctor told him if he kept on welding, he would be blind within the year. He always welded with his hood on, but yet it was still affecting his vision.

Pamela - posted on 01/30/2009

My hubby is an animal handler for Eudora Farms. They do events all over the east coast. They are an exotic petting zoo. He loves his job!!! The only things he doesn't like is that it is only for 6 months of the year and being awat from our daughters. He gets to travel all over, seeing new places.