Behind the Scenes with a Real Life Fire Wife During Fire Season

The time: 5:15 am

Hubbie wakes up with his alarm and fumbles around to get out of bed. Every morning I try my hardest to get up with him to make his coffee, but it never happens. My warm bed is so…. warm. I hear him quietly walking around the kitchen so as not to wake anyone up. He’s packing his food for the next 2-3 days. Two of those days are on regular shift, but with it being fire season, it’s always possible that he will go out on a fire which would extend his shift past 2 days.

The time: 5:45 am

Hubbie is done with breakfast and his car is packed. He comes back in to give me a kiss and tell me he loves me. I whisper back “I love you”, and hold his hand as long as I can as he walks away. In the back of my mind, I know that it could be the last time I tell him. I shake the thought and I usually get up and watch him leave through the window, and proceed to get mad at myself for not getting up and out of bed sooner to spend the early morning with hubbie. Every. Single. Time.

I am now awake so I get a head start on work, meal prepping for the day, or getting the homeschool lessons (kinder and second grade) planned for the day.

The time: 7:00am

By now, hubbie is at work. His shift doesn’t start until 7:30am, but he likes to be early to get everything situated. At this time our girls are up. They know daddy won’t be home for the next 2 days, so we stay busy. We make and eat breakfast and get ready for the day.

The time: 9:00am

We head to the gym. I have to stay in shape to keep up with my fit hubbie! We workout together if he is home, but the next 2 days I am solo. The girls do some homeschool work while I get my sweat on. I feel refreshed, strong, and ready to tackle the day.

The time: 10:30am

We are home and continue homeschool. Usually, I take the time to go over our weekly theme and maybe do an art project. I check my phone for a text from hubbie. No luck. {Shake off the thought that something has happened to him.} We get a lot of work in reviewing math, spelling and all the basics, and then it’s time for lunch.

The time: noon

We make and eat lunch and I get some business work done while the girls take FOREVER to eat. Literally, everyday, same thing. Lunchtime procrastination. After lunch, we head to the library. We go once a week to trade our books in for new ones. We get our theme books for the week, and extras to read before bed.

The time: mid-afternoon

Depending on the day of the week, we either have dance, soccer practice, (I am coaching both my girls teams this year), or Awanas at church. Before any of those things happen, we finish up our school work, and get our chores done. Dinner can fall before or after the activities, so I try to have it planned accordingly. I check my phone, a text from hubbie! {Relief!}

The time: 8-9pm

If we are lucky, we go out and play with some of our neighbors or go out and play catch or ride bikes. Sometimes the girls watch the Magic School Bus or the Discovery Channel before bed. We have our bed time routine- shower, brush teeth, read books and talk to daddy on the phone if he’s not out on a call. The girls go to sleep at 9pm and I am up doing business work.

We stay busy all day while hubbie is busy at the fire station all day. We rarely get to talk on the phone, only an occasional text here and there if I am lucky. We don’t talk a lot at night either, because he shares a room with another firefighter, so it’s hard to have conversations with others around.

During the fire season, the normal schedule can be greatly disturbed. If they get caught up in a fire and are gone for 6 days, they come home, but only for their normal 2 days off before it’s time to go back to work again. Those 2 days off just aren’t enough.

Fire wives are extremely independent- because we have to be. The rule is that something major (like a leak or power outage) always happens when the hubbie is at work. We take care of it if we can, so that our hubbie doesn’t have to worry about it when he gets back from a hard shift.

If you know a fire wife, do me a favor:

Text her to check in every once in a while. A little text can go a long way. Especially when her hubbie might be out on a fire. It gets lonely!

Don’t take it personally if she declines an invite, because family time can be scarce. When hubbie is home, fire wives soak in as much time as possible with them.

BUT take advantage of a girls night in if her hubbie is on shift! Get the kids to bed and have an adult sleepover!

Offer help if your schedule allows. This day in age, everyone is busy, but something as simple as coming over to help with the kids for an hour while she does laundry or goes to the grocery store can be a complete life saver!

During the holidays it can be especially rough if the hubbie is scheduled to work. Check in and see if shes alone for any of the holidays and maybe offer an invite over. Even just the gesture goes a long way!

XOXO,

Your local fire wife