If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. At least that's what Ferris Bueller said. But, it's really no joke. Sometimes I stop and look at Teagan and think, "Wow, two and a half years flew by. Where has time gone?" I do wonder at times if I am doing too much or trying to do too much with my life. I'm always doing what I think is best for my family. It's one of the many reasons I picked up a part time job being a public safety dispatcher. I felt like my life didn't have enough stress already. All kidding aside, it's definitely something I've always wanted to, I enjoy doing the job, the pay is pretty good (compared to other towns), and the extra money definitely helps while Sarah is out on maternity leave.
When I was younger, I can remember my dad always having more than one job to help provide for us. I think that's where I get my work ethic from. I always want to make sure I can afford everything I need for my family. Not necessarily wants; but definitely the needs. We need a roof over our heads, we need food on the table, we need gas in our vehicles – you get the point. My mom had one full time job working in a local school system as an Occupational Therapist. Mom only had one job because when she wasn't working, she was taking care of us 3 kids. I now totally understand how taking care of kids is an additional full time job. Not to mention, any free time you do have (which is usually after 11:00pm) is typically put towards planning fun activities for your family, or just having some quiet alone time with your significant other.
Every day this past week, after working my regular full time job, I had to go to my APCO Public Safety Telecommunicator 1 training at night. It's a 40 hour course divided up into 5 nights. In the *fabulous* state of Massachusetts, you cannot answer 911 calls until you have completed the Vesta Pallas 911 training, Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) training, and the APCO PST 1 training. To which, at the end of each course you are required to complete an exam. If you pass the exam, you are then certified in these areas. Hooray. I suppose it probably helps to put people's minds at ease to know that public safety dispatchers are properly trained for their duties. Especially since public safety dispatchers are people who essentially have other people's lives in their hands over the phone. Not to mention the ton of liability that comes with the job, but that's another blog post for another day.
With my availability this past week I have to say my wife is a saint. Actually, any wife that can tend to a 2.5 year old and a 1 month old for 5 nights in a row by herself is most likely a saint. This includes but not limited to picking Teagan up from day care 3 out of the 5 days with Hadley, bathing both of them, feeding both of them, and getting both of them to bed at a reasonable hour. Well, I guess Hadley is an exception. She prefers to eat every 4 hours, and either sleep or party in between. Now if we could just get her to party during the day and sleep at night we'd be in better shape. However, I probably shouldn’t complain considering some of the horror stories my wife has shared with me about her friends and their new babies who either don't sleep at night and/or want to feed every 2 hours. We are lucky enough that Hads-magoo (Yes, that’s my current nick name I have going for her at the moment) does sleep for 5 to 6 hour increments between feedings in the evening hours.
I was recently at a vendor conference / outing a few weeks ago in Boston. It started with a "meet and greet" at Jillian's next to Fenway, followed by a presentation. After the presentation all of us packed up and headed to the Red Sox game. Now, don't get me wrong, I do enjoy a good baseball game and more so when it's free; however, I stopped following the Red Sox a few years ago when they became the laughing stock of Major League Baseball. I can't even tell you who is who anymore on the team. I've moved on to far better things – hockey. Go Bruins! But, that's not the purpose of this paragraph. I actually had a great time at Jillian's. I met a lot of great new people to network with, learned a thing or two about "network threats" and enjoyed the free food and drinks. It wasn't until I got to the game, sat in my seat, surrounded by the same people I had just met that it sunk in – I wasn't having fun at the game. It wasn't because I stopped following the Red Sox, but it's because I didn't have my family with me. I kept thinking how if I had Teagan next to me how cool it would be to see the expressions on her face at such an exciting type of place. Even though Hadley is too little at the moment, I would have still liked to have her and Sarah there as well. Maybe not the place for a baby, but I'd just want to share in the excitement with my family. I actually ended up sitting a little while longer thinking that the feeling would pass and I should have a little fun while I was already in Boston, but it wasn't passing. It was the bottom of the 4th inning that I finished my beer, got up out of my seat, thanked the vendor for everything and explained that I had to get home. While I was walking out of Fenway, I saw another father and his younger daughter walking out of the "Red Sox Shop". It actually made me well up a bit and it made me think to run in there and get something for Teagan – a hat – since she is always stealing my way-to-big-for-her-head Red Sox hats. On my way to the Fenway T stop to head back to Riverside, I sent a text message to Sarah letting her know I was on my way home around 8:30pm. I sent a text message because Teagan typically goes to bed around 8:00pm and I didn't want to call and wake Teagan in case she had just fallen asleep. I was a bit taken back when Sarah messaged me back saying, "Why aren't you staying to watch the game?" My reply was simply, "Because I miss my family." The conversation went on a little longer as Sarah was a bit puzzled that I wasn’t staying. I actually felt relieved when I got into my truck at the Riverside parking lot to head home. There is nothing that quite beats the feeling of coming home, walking through the door, and seeing my beautiful wife waiting for me.
The moral of this blog post – I'm certainly thankful for a lot in my life. My life and family time may feel crazy 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, but I always come home with a smile on my face. Even with a head cold, training, late night feedings, early mornings, and "Teagan Toy Tornados" running rampant through our apartment. I think what kept me going strong through this very long week was when I'd call Sarah on my dinner break from training. She'd put her cell phone on speaker phone so I could talk to Teagan. It was each night I'd say to Teagan before hanging up, "I love you", that she would reply and say, "I love you too." Nothing is more heartwarming than hearing your child tell you they love you. I think it's the fact that you can hear it in their voice that you know they have those feelings towards you.
