New in Wisconsin

[katbuad]

Hello and welcome.


Hubby came home once during training, but it was all notecards and review (reminded me of his college days.)

Just an FYI, not sure what you were told but my hubby works for Chautauqua, which is closely related to Republic, and half of his training class got a couple weeks off after training and the other half got a schedule and went straight to IOE. Guess which half hubby was in. So you might want to prepare yourself that it maybe a bit even after training before he is home for any lenght of days.

Good luck & best wishes.

[Mrs.Alchemist]

Welcome! Ahhhhhh.... Wisconsin... I love it, I hate it, I miss it! (I'm from Racine, and for those of you who don't know, it's 30 minutes south of Milwaukee)

[Eastbayk]

Welcome to the group!

My son had just turned 5 when his step dad went away for 6 weeks of training last year. It didn't seem to phase him at all. We just held down the routine like normal and everything went fine. Hubby was able to fly home every weekend (except one he chose not to), which was really nice for us, but not all airlines provide that chance. We (me and son) made a few care packages, colored and sent out some pictures and wrote lots of notes that I faxed to the hotel as suprises while hubby was gone. Looking back at it, it went by fast. Your daughter probably won't have any problems adjusting, especially if you explain that he's "going to school" or give some other understandable reason. Maybe making a calendar to count down the days until he returns would help too.

Honestly, I have found that our biggest challenge lies in the day to day coming and going now. Son is so used to it just being me and him, and having all of my attention, that when dad comes home it's hard for him to share the attention. He tends to act up more and makes more attempts to dominate my time and attention when dad is home and taking my attention away from him. Once I realized what was going on, I was able to make some changes to work on resolving the problems.

Good luck!

Kim

[AndTA]

Originally Posted by Mrs.Alchemist

Welcome! Ahhhhhh.... Wisconsin... I love it, I hate it, I miss it! (I'm from Racine, and for those of you who don't know, it's 30 minutes south of Milwaukee)

HA! Right now everyone in Wisconsin hates it! Got pounded last week with 16 inches of snow...today with another 9....can't wait for Spring!

Anyways, thanks everyone for the great info. I think I was just feeling nervous because everything is happening at once. Sooner or later, it will all settle down (like in 272 days, after the wedding) and we will get back into the swing of things. As long as I can make it through the training, we will be good!

[Mrs.Alchemist]

Yeah, I know about the weather... I get updates from my little brother who's still there. He said that it was 12 today & full of snow! I do love the SoCal weather!

Originally Posted by AndTA

HA! Right now everyone in Wisconsin hates it! Got pounded last week with 16 inches of snow...today with another 9....can't wait for Spring!

Hang in there... only like... 3 or 4 more months to go!

Well, Weddings can make even the sanest of people a little crazy... You almost can't blame some of the Bridezillas! My scenario was kind of weird because My Hubby & I got married (in Racine) last July, went on our honeymoon to Hawaii, when we got back, his mom was visiting us from Brazil, and just a few days after she was here.... He got hired for an aerial mapping company! They called him, and the next day, he was on a plane for San Francisco... He was back home for a bit in Sept., but gone the entire time from mid-Sept. to the very end of Dec. I felt like we never got a chance to "be married." Luckily, my job allows me to travel, and we saw each other every 12 days... but always in hotels... I really just wanted to sit on the couch with him and watch TV! We're lucky 'cause he's home now, but he has an airline interview, and it is only a short matter of time before he's off "stationed" some where else again... It's hard, but as you can see from all of the examples set by the other ladies on Jetgirls... It's possible!

Hang in there, at least when the wedding planning is all over, you can just focus on other things... like... missing your Hubby...

I think it's nice to know that we're so much less likely to get stuck in a rut!

[ccbegay]

Hi there and welcome...we are down here in Charlotte, NC...BF flies for Eagle...no kids here, just 3 furry babies!

[Rosey]

Hi, welcome, and congrats! Planning a wedding takes a lot out of you - so good luck! No kids so can't help you with that, but I actually did go visit him during training (fiance then). His was two months over the 4th of July, so I went over the holiday weekend. He actually invited me - he stresses out alot, and I helped him study for most of his licenses/ratings. Like Spotty said, I spent a lot of time helping him memorize things and reading the captain part of the check lists.

But we planned it so that the wife of a guy in his class came too. That way, she and I could hang out while they were in class or when they needed to study, and the guys wouldn't feel pressure to keep us entertained. We all did take a couple hours and went to an amusement park over the weekend. Several other guys in the class came too, and DH said it actually helped them to relieve a little of the stress, and gear up for the rest of the training. Plus the other wife and I brought a TON of food and study aids, plus quarters for the laundry place, so the whole class LOVED us. We brought fun, food, help, and cleanliness - what was there to hate?

I guess moral of the story - there's a chance of visiting him during training, but ONLY if you keep it very light and drama-free, and ONLY if he feels 100% okay with the "distraction." And it doesn't hurt to bring gifts. The index cards, post-it flags, and beef jerky were huge hits.

[stellaandcorasmommy]

hi there! i'm kinda late in responding...
i too have a 3 year old daughter (and a 9 month old daughter). Like others have said, the kids deal with it relatively easily! They get used to daddy coming and going and seem to thinks it's odd that other people's daddies are home every night. i think we've just learned to make it fun. i don't get overly upset when daddy leaves and neither do they. i look at it as time with the girls...and then we smother daddy with kisses when he comes home!
we use our camera phones constantly! i am always sending him pictures of what we are doing (so that he feels included!) and he reciprocates by sending us pictures of him (in the plane, airport, hotel rooms...)
stella (my 3 year old) also recently saw the commercial of a little girl that puts a stuffed animal into her daddy's bag as he's leaving. so she decided that she needed to start doing that too. we have been getting pictures of her shrek baby driving the plane and sleeping in the hotel beds.
i think the most important thing to remember (and it is something that we are constantly working on...) is remembering that we have to keep things the same - if i let them do something when he's gone...he has to be willing to let them do it when he's home. or else you get the constant "but mommy let me do it!"
as another has noted, it seems to be more difficult to have the constant in and out that a line presents...but - the long training is hard too! i can't imagine my husband not wanting me to come and visit or for him to make the trek home. it was a must in our relationship. work never takes precedence over our time together. but, every couple is different. we see our time together as more of a down time - and you need that during studying too.
if you ever have any other questions about this life with kiddos...let me know!
also...remember...hotel people are often willing to help you do surprises, as long as you have a credit card #! we've sent valentine's day cake (if there is a restaurant in the room)...faxes of my ultrasounds, surprise candy bars...etc. just be willing to get creative!
- jen

[Kristie]

Originally Posted by AndTA

HA! Right now everyone in Wisconsin hates it! Got pounded last week with 16 inches of snow...today with another 9....can't wait for Spring!

HA..boy do i remember those days...doesn't seem like all that long ago to me!

Hello from another past wisconsinite...I grew up in a small town just south of Madison called Oregon.

Training is one of those animals you have to see only now and again but the length of time it takes to get through can be more difficult than dealing with a pilots 5 day work schedule! haha