Any other truckers with young kids? How do you handle it?

I have a great relationship with the grandkids, my oldest daughter 34, is a 14 year marine gunny sgt, he r daughter , my oldest grand kid texts and sends me pics all during the week, they live in new Orleans and its a big deal whenever I get a load thru to visit, my daughter calls me just about daily and sends pics of her travels, she is an aide to a commanding general, the second kid works at the San Antonio zoo, hes 32, also text daily and talk to him at least twice a week, the third is 208, owns his own concrete plant with 4 mixer trucks in our hometown, his two kids , the oldest of his and my oldest daughters are only one day apart in age. I was on the way up 95 when I got got the call the first one was being born at parris island, so I detoured to beaufort, sc. I got the call the next morning the other one was in labor in augusta ,ga 2 months early , so off to augusta I went.

the youngest son is in college and the army reserve, he is 20 . the youngest is 17 , a pretty good equestrian, in fact was grand champion last month at the southeastern regional morgan horse show . I actually made that show, took a load to ft Lauderdale, and deadheaded to newberry fl for the show.

I am en route to bayonne, nj now and reloading in ny state for ft. smith, ar then reloading in Arkadelphia,ar to charlotte,nc that delivers on the 22d of may a Thursday, then I will go up the next show that weekend at the nc state fairgrounds in Raleigh,nc.

when my 17 year old went to the prom this year, I missed but I got a video on the phone of her and her date and a call from the prom. the call was to say thanks for the dress she had on.

she herself got a 3800 dollar morgan mare for Christmas, the horse shows cost about a thousand for the 3 days, the dress was 400 and she has already qualified for nationals in Oklahoma city in October. we raced karts with the boys for almost 17 years,

I said I did otr, I never disappeared from their lives. and they were taught by their mother what made all that possible. hard work and sacrifice.

so anymore questions about how I destroyed their lives?

again its not the quantity its the quality of the time, and the fact that know someone cares about them and works his butt off for them.

one reason I aint into chrome, chrome don't buy prom dresses, wrestling shoes, or football cleats.


its all in what they are taught

 

Glad some of us don't have kids who need their parents to tie their shoe every 5 minutes. Guess what kiddo's mom's and pop's is not always going to be there. You need to learn how to play with the big dogs and or GROW UP. I can't believe some of the comments on here. What happen when people went to War. I can't fight for my country because I have a 3 year old. Say what. Get your candy tail on the plane soldier. Do you want your kids speaking Vietnamese. We got oil and buddies from over seas who fund our political party to take care of. SIR YES SIR!! That-a-boy

 

I don't need to justify anything, I put their needs and wants ahead of mine, plain and simple. I went from the military to trucking 34 years ago. its old hat after 34 years, its normal .

 

EXACTLY!!!!!

When kids grow up with this type of life they don't know any different. Just like military kids when their parent(s) are deployed. Soon it becomes habit like brushing your teeth or going to school.

Kinda like the kid that grows up with a crack addict mom, they don't know any different.

Teach them that it is honest work and they will respect you and when they get older can appreciate what you gave up for them. That will not happen though until they reach the age of at least 22-25. That's when your parents all of a sudden start to get smarter.

 

To me, no job is worth leaving your family behind. Once I get married and settled in with my wife, I'm done with trucking. Not parenting long distance.

 

Don't get me wrong, if Otr is your thing and you can make it work, more power to ya. I'm not bashing anyone for their choice of career. But for myself and my young family, otr wasnt a great fit.
Skateboardman put it best. Its not the quantity of time, it's the quality of time you spend. If you're a jerk, and home daily, that's worse than being gone a week at a time. Otr didn't work for me because I was a jerk when I was home, itching to be on the road. I went local and guess what? Now I was home daily and still a jerk! Which almost led to a divorce, until I looked in the mirror and saw the error of my ways. I'm still local, and life is really good now. I believe if I were to go back otr again, it would work much better, because the time I spend with my family, I value more than anything.

 

Trucking is not a job it's an Adventure!! Suck it up buttercup.......... I apologize this post was not directed at any re-fried beanie babies or starving pygmies in Africa. Getter doneeeeeeeeeee

 

To all you guys who raised a healthy, decent, disciplined family while spending your career OTR, a lot of respect is due. You should thank your creator for blessing you with not only a means to provide, but more so for giving you a strong woman at home. It's a different world today and generally speaking I don't see many young women capable of holding the home together while dad is absent. There's no discipline anymore. This country has succeeded in creating a lazy, undisciplined, morally corrupt society.

 

And he was there everyday.