The past few months have been different...VERY GOOD BUT VERY DIFFERENT!Paul is home EVERY NIGHT now! This hasn't been the norm for 95% of our relationship! Shortly after Paul and I started dating he accepted a position in outside sales and that is what started a decade of traveling for work. It was difficult on our relationship and me. I didn't really understand why until I kind of got over it, but I had feelings of abandonment when he traveled and we
Then...after having kids and the new stresses that adds onto a relationship, things only got worse before they got better. We both felt the pressure and wanted to support each other but it's not easy on either side. Over time I've learned that being a traveling salesman is NOT glamorous and definitely not the fun time that most people think it is. You're always on someone else's time-frame and schedule. You sleep in a hotel, without the creature comforts of your own home. Paul would frequently have awful nights away from me because the hotel was too hot or cold and he heard weird noises that would wake him up. The WORST thing was not being able to be WITH his family and see the developments that I saw with the kids. He would often tell me that "I didn't know she/he could do that! When did they learn that?" It broke my heart to hear but it also made me realize the major downside traveling had on his life and world. From then on I refused to let myself think only about my own struggles...
Some might say it's only a few days a week...what's the big deal!? Here's what I would say: When you have a household to take care of, and babies, that couple of days might be 100 diaper changes, 3 booboo's that require tending, being woken up for night terrors 6 times, someone vomiting (because $hi% always hits the fan when he left), the garbage disposal quitting, the refrigerator making a strange humming noise or 15,000 other things that come up with a busy life with kiddos. On top of all that, I didn't want to hear about his struggles at the end of his day because I had plenty of my own to take on without adding his on. It was a constant strain on us as a couple! I HATED that strain because he is my everything! Through it all we definitely made it work and tried to be each other's champions even through our own crap!
We had been hopeful for a few years now that we could make a change that would keep Paul home, but he struggled to find the "right" position. It seemed that every available job for him would REQUIRE at least 1-2 nights per week of travel. We contemplated making a switch that would affect our family's pocket book, BUT keep him home. Then, as Felix came into our lives, it feels like the pressure just kept mounting. My business was growing but I was still required to be a "single mom" when Paul traveled and I wanted a change MORE THAN EVER! 
