Keeping All the Balls in the Air

It's summer, so many of you are away on holidays and spending some much-needed time with your families. That’s what I’ll be doing next week, actually. And making sure you spend time with your family can be a bit of an issue for firefighters, volunteer and otherwise. It’s hard to balance work and family time, let alone work, volunteer work and family time.


I’ve been having trouble with that lately. This spring/summer I did a lot of travelling for work. Ontario, Alberta, Alberta again... When I was home, I felt resentful about going to the hall and not seeing my family. Our daughter is 2 now, and as an only child, she likes quite a bit of attention. Which I’m happy to give – when your kid says “Dada, you play toys with me?”, you get down on the floor and you play toys.

I felt like something had to give, so I asked my chief for a leave of absence until the fall. Turned off the pager and put down my helmet for a while.

At first it felt pretty good. I was more relaxed at home – I had been feeling like I was constantly letting something slip, either home or the department. I got through my work travel, did a little visiting… but then I hear the sirens at night.

That’s a hard thing, knowing that your friends are out working. I resisted the urge to get up and turn on the radio, but I thought about it pretty hard. My wife heard the sirens too, because she asked me the next day what my plans were. After listening to my thoughts, she told me that she thought it was an important thing to do, and that she thought I should go back to it when my leave ended.

That kind of support is huge – family tends to bear the brunt of absence for firefighting, and knowing that my wife wants me to do it, even if it means I’m not at home as much – that means a lot. Plus, I’ve had some communication from the guys and girls at the hall, asking when I’m coming back – that’s big, too.

So come the fall, I’ll be back in harness, or PPE, at least. I’m glad the department was OK with me taking the time. It means I can come back energized and feeling less conflicted about volunteering, especially knowing that my family has got my back on it. Well, my 2-year-old probably isn’t onboard… but hopefully she’ll understand when she’s a bit older.