Whine With That Cheese?

So Brandon is out of town again.  He is in sunny Los Angeles while I am stuck at home.  He is going out for dinner and drinks every night and housekeeping at the Hilton is cleaning his room and making his bed.  I know he is working hard and putting in long hours, but still.... FREE dinner.  Somebody to CLEAN UP after him.  QUIET TIME each night.  And while I try to keep my mouth shut when he vents or complains because I know he would rather be home (most of the time), I can't help but be a little jealous of his time away and a tiny part of me wants to say "Shut up!"  Here I am with 3 kids who for some reason have spent nearly every second since he left whining and/or fighting.  Except the baby - he's too little to do either, but he does his part by ripping up whatever he can get his hands on, whether it be on the floor, the table, or the wall.  It is exhausting, both mentally and physically and all I want to do once they are all finally sleeping sweetly in their beds is collapse into mine.  But wait, there's more!  Clean up the tornado of a mess they left behind, do my own work, clean up after dinner, get everything ready for the morning...  All I want to say to him is "Stop whining!  You've got it easy!"

But then... I have several friends who are single parents and work full time outside the home and bust their butts like I cannot even imagine, day in and day out.  I have several friends whose spouses are in the military and either are now or have been at some time (or TIMES) deployed, leaving them to not only be single parents but worry about the unthinkable happening to their husbands.  I'm a single parent this week.  And then probably again next month and probably many times after that.  But then, each time my husband comes back and picks up right where he left off, jumping right back into his role as Super Dad and taking care of the "man jobs" around this house.  He is safe and sound and with us and all is well.  So what do I say to myself?  "Stop whining!  You've got it easy!"