KELLY ONANIAN/GateHouse News Service

Kevin and Lisa Kingston have juggled working different shifts for 17 years to take care of their children Allison, 10, center, and Lauren, 17, and Megan, 15 (not shown).

By Kelly Onanian
Enterprise Correspondent

For 17 years, Lisa and Kevin Kingston of Wareham have made sacrifices to avoid day care and be home with their children.

Married for 19 years, the Kingstons have three daughters: Lauren, 17, Megan 15, and Allison, 10.

Six weeks after Lauren was born, they committed to working opposite shifts so one parent could be home with the children while the other parent worked.

“Back then, we lived in Bridgewater and I got a job in Brockton as a pre-loader for UPS from 4 a.m. to 9 a.m.,” Lisa said.

“I'd come home, Kevin had the baby waiting to be breast-fed and he'd go to work. I'd have a nap when the baby napped and go to bed early with her,” she recalled.

“It's one of those things when you look back you say, 'How did we ever do it?' But you do what you have to.”

Dual-earner parents who work opposite hours give up a good deal of time together and may miss opportunities to socialize with others, to avoid day care. According to the nonprofit Equal Opportunities Employment Trust, research shows that these couples have a higher divorce rate than regular day workers.

For the Kingstons, their set-up has not always been easy, but they have made it work.

Kevin is an operations manager for a liquor distributorship.

“Kevin has always had long days, sometimes 12-hour days, so it has been hard fitting in my job around him,” Lisa said.

After Allison was born, Lisa began working toward her dream of becoming a nurse. She took classes at Cape Cod Community College, which offered child care for Allison while Lisa was in school.

After getting her nursing degree, she worked the 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift, which she and Kevin said was the “hardest part” of working different shifts.

“Kevin would get the kids on the bus, and I'd come home and sleep. It was hard communicating and trying to keep the relationship together,” Lisa says.

“You don't have time to talk about things so you omit them and you don't get the right sleep. There was a lot of winging it.”

Today, Lisa works the 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday shifts as a cardiac care nurse at a local hospital.

The Kingstons said they are not “anti-daycare,” but both grew up with the ideal to have a parent at home.

“I've always felt proud my kids could come home and I'm here, or I could be here when they're sick. Allison is 10 now and she still loves it that we're both here in the morning to put her on the bus,” Lisa said.

Both agree Lisa having to work weekends is not the ideal situation, but the Kingstons make the best of it. They make sure they nurture their relationship.

“Friday nights are our date nights,” Kevin said.

Now, that their eldest daughters are teens, Lisa also believes her shift schedule is especially important.

“I believe, especially in the middle school years, kids need a parent to be home, to hear what they're thinking and pay attention to what they're saying on the phone,” she said.

The Kingstons' choice has not been easy, but it worked for them.

“The split schedules have definitely been worth the sacrifice,” Kevin said. “Is it perfect? No, no nothing is. The perfect situation is to have an ultimate amount money!”