Written By: Rebecca McGee
It’s not always easy being a paramedic’s wife. One day you may laugh, another, cry, and sometimes you do both at the same time. He has now been a medic for eight years and I have been an MRI technologist, stay at home mom (to our two beautiful kids), esthetician, and now I also work for Ada County. Here are a few things I have learned over the years, as a paramedic’s wife:
1. I will always be a partial-single mother
I take the kids to daycare and pick them up. I feed them, give them baths and then put them to bed. My husband tries to make it to the really important things (like their births!) But I don’t know if he tried his hardest to make it those first few dance recitals. But I have explained to our 4-year old daughter that Daddy saves lives and there are people who need him more than us sometimes.
Whenever we hear a siren I tell my daughter it’s Daddy saying hi. I think she has begun to understand, but I have had many nights where she just lays in bed and cries because she misses Daddy (and honestly, a lot of those nights I have cried too, but I put on a brave face for her). That being said, Daddy is home to take her to preschool and dance on his off days while I am at work.
2. Special occasions don’t really mean a whole lot for paramedics.
It doesn’t matter if it’s Christmas, our anniversary, or I’m in labor. People still call 911 every day. So we try to create our own traditions so our family still has those special moments together. My husband didn’t make it to the hospital until I convinced him I was actually in labor (even then I think he begged his Supervisor to stay on shift). 🙂
3. His paramedic team partner gets to see him more than I do sometimes.
They sleep in the same station, eat together and save lives together. That’s a pretty close bond that even I don’t totally get sometimes.
4. Sleep will always be a sore subject in our house.
I work full time, so my husband doesn’t have the option to come home and sleep. I feel horrible that he will come off of a 24-hour shift with no sleep and has to immediately take over Daddy duty while I run out the door to work, but then I have to remind myself that working is important to us both, so we just buck up and do it.
5. The positive side… Three nights a week I get to watch whatever I want to on TV.
I don’t get any remarks on how stupid the Real Housewives are and I don’t have to endure the tenth episode of How it Was Made! In all honesty, it’s kind of nice. I get to put the kids to bed, light my candles, pour a glass of wine and just relax!
6. Being married to a medic is hard sometimes.
If I had my choice I would have my husband work 5 days a week and come home every night, but being a paramedic is his job and I admire him for it. It takes a special person to be a medic. I recently read an article that said Medic/Fire/Police jobs are some of the most stressful and that it is a lot harder on the body going from a non-stressful situation to a stressful situation all day long. The article said it’s actually better for your body to sustain a high stress situation over the day.
7. Paramedics look pretty darn good in their uniforms!
I have to laugh when my husband tells me an 80-year old patient tried to set him up with her granddaughter or asks him to put EKG leads on her because she thinks he’s good looking! But I have to agree– there’s just something about a man in a uniform!
The bottom line is, I love my husband and I admire what he does but I also sometimes miss him at the same time. Being married to a paramedic is hard work, but to me, it’s worth every second because I know he’s passionate about what he does for a living and I’m proud of him for saving lives!