Today is one of those ordinary days.
He usually wakes up earlier than me. He’s probably gone to PT and already come home before I even wake up. When he doesn’t have to be at work early, he changes the twins out of their PJs and diapers and gets them ready for school. Chances are that by the time I’m up, he’s already started breakfast and has gotten the lunchboxes out.
I’ll ask him what his plan is for the day and chat about what my day holds. I’ll get lunches ready while he gets dressed for work; I’ll sit with the boys until they’re done eating and get ready to leave. Then I’ll kiss him goodbye as we rush off to daycare and think to myself how good he looks in his uniform.
Something about that uniform gets me every time.
We might meet up for lunch if he isn’t busy (as some couples tend to do), and we’ll laugh about something funny the kids did. We’ll say our “see you later,” knowing that this goodbye is only for a few hours. I’ll play outside with the kids after naptime and wait for him to come home.
The boys light up when his truck comes around the corner, and they can’t wait to see him. After our parenting duties are done, we will sit on the couch and watch a TV show. Then he’ll study, and I’ll get ready for bed.
It’s just another ordinary day. Dozens like it will pass, and they will start to run together in my head.
Like most military spouses, my husband isn’t a suit-and-tie type of guy. Similar to many military personnel, sitting behind a desk and pushing paperwork is something that would probably send him over the edge. From the infantry to special ops to flight school to be a helicopter pilot, it seems like he’s always trying to keep my heart rate high. He’s a physical thrill seeker of sorts, so “ordinary days” are few and far between. But I knew what I signed up for when I said yes to this life, I’ve known that since I met him as an infantryman.
People ask me all the time if his job makes me nervous. The answer is always yes, because how could it not? It seems like the more dangerous the job, he’s all for it. And because of that, I’m always thankful to have ordinary days with him.
Regular days where we can go to lunch together; ordinary days when he can play with the kids and sit with me on the couch. I love “boring” days that give us the feeling of normalcy.
To be honest, my husband and I often drive each other crazy in these “in-between” deployment, training or school months. The spans of time where we are both home and in the same space for more than a few weeks at a time are so rare, it’s like we do not know how to do it properly. I find myself frustrated by picking up another article of clothing, finding another cup or item left out, or toys that can never seem to find a home.
Yes, there are days I’m incredibly overwhelmed with him and the kids; a messy house and a thousand dishes to wash; a career and my own health to think about. Who wouldn’t?
But I try to stay thankful for these slow, ordinary days that run together because I know these times won’t last for long. We’ve been married four and a half years, and he’s been gone for almost half of our marriage. We always have so much time, until there’s never enough time.
So today was just an ordinary day. Nothing special.
But today he came home. Today, we got to spend another ordinary day together. And with every passing year in this military life, I am more and more thankful that these ordinary days exist.
