So you made it through pregnancy. All your fears of your chef/husband not being able to make it to the hospital for the baby’s delivery were unnecessary as he was there in plenty of time. 🙂
But now you have this sweet little baby and your chef/husband is back to work, working a billion hours a week (OK, not that many, but it sure seems like it). You’re exhausted, overwhelmed, lonely and some days really, really, really, wish you had another adult to talk to. Raising a family with a chef isn’t easy.
I think this might be the biggest reason that spouses and significant others of chefs find my website. Many of us are sitting at home on Saturday nights while most of our friends are out and about . . . yet our chefs are at work and we are home by ourselves (or with the kids) and are lonely.
It’s interesting. Loneliness has looked different to me at different times in my life.
When we were first married and my husband and I were working opposite schedules, I would get home, eat dinner by myself, and spend the night alone. I was lonely. I missed him. I wished he could be home so we could spend time together. I hated having all that time without him.
I found ways to occupy my time while he was at work. I watched TV, worked on my weekly Bible Study, did pages in my scrapbook, etc. But I would still think of him many times during the night and miss him. I was lonely. It was silent in our home and I struggled with the long hours he was working. I hated having all that time to myself.
Fast forward 19 years and the loneliness looks different. (I wish I had more time by myself – LOL!) (more…)
a mixture of one liquid with another with which it cannot normally combine smoothly (like oil and water); an atypical combination of two things
After a year of blogging on EmulsifiedFamily.com, I have come to love the name “Emulsified Family” and feel it’s the perfect way to describe our family (and probably many of yours.)
Why?
I’m so glad you asked!
Let’s start off by looking at it from a culinary perspective. Emulsifying is a delicate process. It needs to be carefully prepared. It requires ideal conditions (temperature, balance, interaction, etc). It won’t hold together forever unless it’s cared for, but can be repaired if it breaks.
Have you ever tried to make mayonnaise? If you just throw all the ingredients into the blender it’s not going to work. (Maybe it would work with a Vitamix. But in my Oster blender . . . no way!!) But if you take your time and carefully follow the correct procedure, you’ll get something that is far better than what you started with. All the ingredients on their own are fine. But together, they can be AMAZING.
Do you see what a perfect term this is to describe the family of a chef?
I know that I’m not, but the times (like now) where my chef/husband has been working long hours for many days in a row are so hard for me. I miss him, I’m emotionally drained from taking care of the girls all day long, and I know I’ll wake up tomorrow and it will be the same.
I’m grateful to have this blog as out outlet to share what I’m going through. But sometimes it feels like I’m typing to the air. 🙂 No matter how great technology is, it just can’t replace a real live person.
A few weeks ago, I was leaving church and was stopped by a friend. We talked about the girls for a bit and then she placed her hand on my arm and said, “Jennifer, I want you to know I’ve been praying for you.” She then went on to tell me specifically what she’d been praying for.
She didn’t know what had been going on in our home as a couple, with our children or with my husband’s job. However, the things she had been praying specifically for our family were exactly what we (and I) have been struggling with.(more…)
Why?
