BOY TRAPPED

Where the inside of my mind leaks onto the screen.

Monday, February 11, 2008

Kirk's Travel and My Dilemma

Scenario A: Kirk leaves for Missouri on March 3rd and stays until March 27th. He doesn't come home at all. He buys groceries instead of eating out every day and ends up making extra money on his business trip. We use that money to eliminate debt or buy something fun when he gets back.

Scenario B: Kirk leaves for Missouri on March 3rd. We pay about $200 out of pocket for Kirk to fly home late Friday night on March 15th. He would be here all day on Saturday, and we'd have a birthday get-together for Alex. He'd come to church with us on Sunday then head back to the airport. He'd stay in Missouri the rest of the time until his business trip ends on March 27th. Besides the $200 we'd have to pay, we'd also miss out on $50 to $75 that Kirk could have earned extra while still in Missouri.

What should I do? I really want Kirk to come home so we can see him, but is it really worth $275 for him to be home for a day and a half?

Will it be harder on the kids to have him home for one day and then gone again? Will Adam be SO excited to see his Daddy and then inconsolable when Daddy leaves AGAIN?

Or will it be better for the whole family to get to see Daddy for a day?

I can't decide what will be best for our family in the long run. Please offer your insight.

1 comments:

Kris said...

That's a tough one. My thoughts are below.

First, if you know you are going to get some $$ back from taxes, then you wouldn't really go into debt by spending $200.00 to fly him home. On the other hand, you are an eternal family and will be together for a very long time. In the big scheme of things, 3 1/2 weeks isn't that long. As long as Kirk calls home and talks with the boys and they understand that the reason he's gone is to get trained for a better job that will help the family out more, they will see how wonderful their dad is and how many sacrifices he's making for them. This will only be for a short amount of time and it's not like he'll be doing a job where he'll be consistently gone for great lengths of time which, as you know, isn't good on a family. In the end, their dad will be their hero and a great example of sacrificing for his family.

Those are some things that came to mind when reading your dilemma. Good luck on deciding what you guys want to do.