My Downtime
Since I get off work at 6pm and have to drive through what is often an hour and a half of traffic, I usually get home after my son has gone to bed. I feel guilty about this, and I don’t like that it happens, but I’ve grown accustomed to it over the last year—so accustomed, in fact, that I’ve sort of come to expect it.
So, when I got home tonight, it was an unexpected surprise to find him still awake. This rare privilege caught me off guard, and being rather grumpy after an hour and a half of driving, I wished he was already in bed, leaving me to enjoy my dinner and quiet time to myself. But, nevertheless, I left my wife to her dinner and I got him ready for bed and then sat down with him to read, as is our custom before bedtime.
That’s when the magic began! And I’m writing about it now so that I myself do not forget it.
I realized as I read to him that, for that brief moment in time, everything for me seems to stand still, and nothing in the world matters except him. Work is gone. All projects I’m involved in dissolve. No one else is more important to me in that moment than him. He grins and laughs and chatters his baby-talk all through that time because he loves his daddy, and it’s the rare time that he gets to see me during the day.
Unfortunately, the time is all too short, and while I resented it at first because I wanted to be selfish and have “me time,” it’s a breath of fresh air and better for my sanity than any time to myself could ever be. Now, I’m looking forward to that time of day, hoping that I can knock off work just a few minutes earlier to beat the traffic home in time to read with Sean again. It’s becoming my favorite time of the day, my downtime.
6 Comments
Yeah, that's what it's all about! Little miracles happen, silently and modestly. The best thing we can do is to notice them when they do occur. Bravo!
Beautifully written. I worked for a year in Amsterdam while living about 1.5-2 hours travel by public transport away. I ended up giving this (otherwise great!) job, because of the same reason you describe above, missing out on my son.
I ended up in a very challenging job only 10 minutes away by car or 30 by bike, which was great for a year until I realised that the challenge I thought was there was simply too big: the company didn't want to change, didn't want to make that next step to professionality.
And now I've ended up with Ibuildings, whose office is over 2 hours drive away. Yet, I don't mind, because I only rarely go there, working from home for most of the time, which means I can get my son out of bed in the morning, play with him a bit before work, and as I finish work, immediately be with him again. During lunchtime, I can even put him to bed for his afternoon sleep.
Now, I'm not saying you should give up your job, but I do realize a lot how important the family time can be.
Ich weiß genau was du meinst, es geht mir genau so !
Ich finde es auch super dass du der Mut hast dein Mytime Bedarf zu aeußern. Und was macht Ziel 7 für 2008? :-)
Full Ack as said in Internet, it is the same with me and our two kids, at the moment i only see them for about a hour a day, and that is Really really short time for having "quality time" ...
Kindly Regards and have a nice reading today
I always try to keep in mind that they're little for such a painfully short time, it really helps me keep things in perspective. 10 years from now, will you remember those Sean moments or that you took extra time to fix some bug somewhere? I'm betting on the Sean moments ;)
Very cool. They grow up too fast, so yes, do try to take advantage of the time while you have it. Having kids makes us remember the best parts of our own childhood and forget having to be an adult for a few moments, some of the better parts of being a part, so don't miss out on them!