As Christmas celebrations get into full swing I wanted to say hi and recognise all the FIFO, Fly In Fly Out, (including DIDO and SISO) families out there who will be separated from their partners, kids, parents and friends this Christmas.
In September my family and I were featured in the Wheatstone Wire magazine. I spoke briefly about how the FIFO lifestyle can present challenges and the solutions we have found – solutions we have discovered from living this way of life for seven years and thousands of hours apart. This includes how we deal with being separated by work when it is a special occasion.
Last year we were lucky enough to have my husband, Paddy, fly in Christmas morning – he arrived at the front door at 6am, dressed as Santa, ready for our youngest, then 7 years old, to wake up. It was one of those amazing moments. At first he was unsure if it was actually Santa, until he rubbed his eyes a couple of times and realised ‘Santa’ was wearing Dad’s glasses! This year we are not so lucky. He will be away for Christmas and New Year. So we will have him in the room on Christmas morning via Skype and a Santa hat placed on top of the screen.
While Paddy was home this month we had our first round of family Christmas dinners, present swaps, decorated the Christmas tree, visited the Myer Christmas windows and house lights set up and lit up. The special surprise packages, full of treats, have now been posted.
We remember that Christmas is a season not just a day. We will keep each other’s spirits up, acknowledging that it feels crappy, but we can take the good with the bad. We stay strong together and make sure that the scales are always tipped more in favour of laughter and love, rather than longing and resentment. Most of all, we have learned to share how we feel and debrief, yet not dwell on the separation.
On the upside – he is home for first day of school, as Mr 8 starts at a new school – YAY!
If you have a FIFO family in your neighbourhood, take time to connect with them and let them know that they are not alone just because their partner works away.
Merry Christmas to you all – share the joy. Kirsty