How to Survive When Your Husband is Out of Town

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If your kiddos are anything like mine they loooooooove their daddy. I mean, my daughter’s first words in the morning after greeting me is, “Where’s daddy?” This love makes my life slightly harder when he happens to need to go out of town for a work trip. Therefore, I’ve compiled a few tips on how to make it through those times when you’re outnumbered for a couple of days or a week or more, and your husband is out of town.

out of town

**I realize that this is just skimming the surface and doesn’t fully work when/if your husband serves in the military and deploys. I’m thankful for the men and women serving, and the sacrifice their families make by staying behind. So to those parents, I salute you and am cheering you on. You are serving too, by holding the home front down!**

  • Get out of the house. Go get a coffee, go hit up the park, go walk through Target. Basically, remove yourself from being confined to your house.
  • Try to maintain some normal routines. If strolling through Target for hours isn’t a normal thing for you, like it is me, then it can throw your kiddos off a little bit. In order to keep some things the same we might hit up our local gym for the 2.5 hours of childcare. It is a familiar place to my children, so we accomplish occupying our time and everyone has some relief!
  • If you have family in town, or really good friends, ask for help from them. I’m sure once they understand that you can only drink so much coffee to keep your spirits up, they will be more than willing to take the kids while you go run a couple of errands, uninterrupted.
  • Don’t schedule appointments. Maybe take the dog to the groomers next week. That wellness check your kid needed a month ago, yeah put that off for another week too. Carpet cleaning? Just give it a week more. You get my point, don’t over schedule yourself.
  • Do ONE fun thing while dad is away. During the summer, that means going to the pool. We don’t get to the pool enough, and my daughter loves it. I try to plan something fun to do that isn’t a normal occurrence.
  • Utilize FaceTime or other video chat. I don’t know about you but with my young kiddos, being able to see their dad is 100 times better than hearing his voice on the phone. They light up being able to really talk to daddy, and the conversation seems to flow better too! You can even call back later once the kids go to bed, if the time change isn’t too bad.
  • Communicate. My husband and I seem to be in constant text communication. If your hubby is able to, send little updates here and there on how the day is going, the good, the bad, and the ugly. He’ll respond when he can, and so will you. I know my guy really misses being home and he appreciates being in the loop. Even if he is hundreds of miles away.
  • Don’t stress about the chaos that your house might become. Look, keeping the kids content might require the floors to be a little messy, or the dishes in the sink longer than you care to have them there. You need some time to unwind from the circus you’re in kids. I always like to put the house back together the day the hubby is coming back–because who doesn’t love to come home to a clean house??? *hint: drop the kiddos off at Grandma’s house for this*
  • Don’t make dinner one night. If you’re feeling brave, visit your favorite family friendly sit-down restaurant. Or go to an extra kid-friendly establishment (that’s fancy talk for fast food.) Even if that doesn’t seem appealing, stick to the drive thru. Just give the stove a break from being used, and go out one night.
  • Don’t sleep alone. After being married even four short years, sleeping alone is just uncomfortable. My two year old is weird and she won’t sleep anywhere but her bed. Well, let me clarify, she won’t fall asleep anywhere but her own bed. So, after she has been sleeping hard and I’m ready to crawl into my empty king size bed, I grab her and she sleeps with me.

I hope some of these suggestions help the next time your husband leaves for a trip. I know having a strategy seems to work best for me, in order to keep my sanity and have an enjoyable time despite my two year old still crying out for daaaaaaaddy! We kind of REALLY miss him when he travels, but the souvenirs make up for it 😉

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Katie, Senior Writer
Katie is a Colorado Native, only knowing CO as home. She loves to travel though, but seeing the "Welcome to Colorful Colorado" sign will always be her favorite thing to come home too. She met her CO Native husband when she was 14, & they have been together since she was 15. They are best friends, tackling parenting their kids together. Norah, Jonah, Micah, & Maggie grow and stretch her every day. Katie is passionate for interior design, photography, and anything pretty. There's always music playing in her home, or a good podcast. She's a sucker for a good classic movie, and knows every part of "Sound of Music" by heart. This is her first year winging homeschooling her daughter, mainly to avoid learning how make cutesy lunches & continue serving those Dino nuggets daily. Solid in her faith, she gives all the glory to God for any grace, kindness, or love in her life. Writing for the Colorado Springs Moms Blog has blessed her more ways than she can count, and is proud to be apart of this tribe of mamas creating community in her hometown!