It feels so weird.

My husband has never had a job where he had to travel until this one. Last year he was in California for a trade show and it sucked. The kids were miserable and crying because they missed him so much and the time difference made it really hard to face time. When we we leaving for school and work, it was 5 AM over there.

When I was getting them ready for bed, my husband was just getting off the trade show floor. It just sucked. The only good thing that came from it was that I decided we should all go to California and I booked a trip to San Diego for the 4 of us and it was amazing.

This year the trade show was in Orlando.

At least it was in the same time zone so talking in the morning, or after work, or before bed was much easier. But we were all still missing him like crazy and we just function better when he’s here.

The kids were fine for me. Actually, they were better than fine. Besides the occasional crying because they missed their dad, they didn’t give me a hard time about anything I asked them to do or help me with.

I talked to a few of my coworkers and some of the kids friends parents at school and I was surprised to get a lot of positive reactions when I told them that my husband was away for a few days.

Like “Yea! You get to chill.” Or “So relaxing! Enjoy it! ” Or “I love when my husband goes away for work because I can watch whatever I want.”

None of that really makes any sense to me. I’m not chilling or relaxing, I am picking up all his chores on top of mine and I don’t find it relaxing when my child is crying in my arms because they want to hug their dad goodnight.

In fact, it’s really hard for me to relax unless we are all together. I always tend to think of worst case scenario and I don’t feel at ease unless we are in the same area. Is there something wrong with me? As for the TV watching, I don’t watch much TV as it is.

He’s on his way home now so I am feeling much better today but I won’t feel normal until we’re all in the house together later.

What about you? How do you feel when a spouse is traveling?