Why This FIFO Lifestyle Can Just F… Off

Look, I’m not saying for a moment that having a husband with a fly in fly out (FIFO) job is all bad. There are many advantages, most grouped under two heading:

Cold, hard Cash

Warms cuddles etc

BUT… I’m not paying any attention to the good parts just now cos I just need a rant and a rave and to foam at the mouth a little.

Because I’m totally over it. Completely.

Our Intn’l Man of Mystery has been mysteriously disappearing to foreign parts for five out of the past six years. He did two years in Yemen, then 2011 he worked in Sydney Monday – Friday job. Then in 2012 he started travelling again, to work out of an office in Sulaymaniyah in Kurdistan.

His FIFO routine is 28 days on, 28 days off. He travels on his days off so it’s usually something like 31 days away and 25 days at home.

What are your issues with this routine?  I hear you warble.

Well, I’m glad you asked… here they are!

These kids need their dad at home. They’re lucky to have an intact family and they’d benefit a lot from having Dad around full-time.

The teenagers especially need their Dad around, even if they’d deny it furiously. Teenage boys turn away from their mums, we’re not their role models. They need a man to accompany them across that perilous bridge to manhood. They think I am hopeless and lame.

I need an alpha male in the house for all the reasons above.

There’s only so much sibling rivalry and bickering one woman can stand and after this FIFO life for five of the past six years I have reached my limit!!

I’m dying of loneliness for adult company.

The shift between Dad home full time not working and Dad 100% gone is too much, every change causes tsunami-sized emotional upheavals and I don’t just mean with the kids.

I hate spending public holidays alone with no family here in Sydney.

Mum’s taxi needs another driver – it’s a full-time job and I can’t have a glass of wine on the many evenings that pickups are needed.

It’s costing us a a fortune in babysitters and psychologists.

My mental health is suffering – badly! Can you tell??

So… negotiations with the Intn’l Man of Mystery are ongoing. I’m not immune to his reluctance to work back in Sydney – twice as hard for half the money.

Look he might have a wee point there… but… what to do?

Any top tips on how to approach this delicate stage of life.

Don’t you think that dealing with teenagers requires at least two parents, maybe more?!!

Does your husband’s job threaten your mental health too?

Should I trade him in for a new boyfriend?

Yours going completely bonkers

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