I wish I had time for…
So I wake up at 4:30 am almost every day. First stop, the bathroom before anything else happens. Check the news, check my social media and if I have time, maybe a fun youtube video.
After I’ve taken care of business my day really begins. I head to the kitchen to wash the dishes from the previous day while I also start getting stuff out of the fridge.
Dishes are done and now I start cooking breakfast for my wife and son. My main Menu items are sandwiches, ham and eggs and quesadillas. In addition to this I also prepare some commuter coffee and get stuff ready on the blender for a power shake my wife loves so much.
Food is done, time to grab a jacket, get the hat and gloves and get the dog out to do her business. Now this is frustrating since she’ll take her time, even if it is 0 degrees outside. But once that’s done, I’ll go back inside and get her food and water.
Run upstairs because the clock is ticking!, get in the shower and out to start maybe ironing the shirt and pants I’ll wear that day. While I am at it my wife is already awake feeding our brand new baby.
It is from 6 to 6:30 am when the whole family runs from one side of the room to the other. Now added to the equation is my son, running to brush his teeth, pick his clothes etc. Finally they head downstairs to have their breakfast while I take a speed shower, nothing fancy just the main areas (guys know what I mean).
Out from the shower, dressed under 5min and heading downstairs. By then my wife has pretty much everything ready. I start loading the cars with baby stuff, office stuff, lunch bags, school backpacks and my huge coffee mug. Back inside to grab the baby and get the carrier on my wife’s car while my son climbs on mine.
And out we go, my wife heads to the daycare and then to work while I drive my son to school. We talk and play for a few minutes while we get there. I love doing this because when he was in daycare, his mom was the one driving him over. Anyway, we get to school, I check him in and off I go! Ready for my one hour commute.
Get to the office with a nice load of coffee and ready to go. I run an engineering department and my day can change pretty drastically from one day to the other, but the fact is, I love my work, I love the company and more than anything I love the people. But still… 8 hours of work.
Time to leave now, back driving an hour to home and this is where things change depending on the day of the week. I either get home and take my son to Karate, or Theater classes, or I just drive directly there to wait for him and drive him home.
Once at home it is time to help my wife with the baby so she can do other stuff. She would clean and prepare for the next day, or cook or anything that needs to be done. Somehow we share and exchange activities, sometimes I cook, sometimes she cleans. At this point we work as a team and do whatever it takes to get things done.
Finally we prepare to sleep and call it a day. Showers, PJ’s, diapers, get the dog back out and some other things involved, but once it’s done my wife and I have left just enough energy to go to bed and rest.
Weekends? sort of the same story just different timings and activities.
In the meantime, my garage tools are getting dusty, my car is getting dirtier, my running shoes are stored, my bikes are hanging from the garage ceiling, my drone is parked in my closet, my DLSR camera is no longer shooting, my business idea is going nowhere, my woodworking magazine subscription expired and is not getting renewed, my gym’s membership charges me on time every month but I haven’t been there for a few months now, and I am heading next week to cancel our TV service.
But the most unimaginable and incredible part for me, is that I am loving it. I love waking up and enjoy the quietness of my home, I love cooking for my family, I love to go out first thing in the morning and feel the fresh snow in my feet, I love watching the sunrise and my day just keeps getting better. I love going upstairs to see my son sleeping deeply, I love the sight of my baby in my beautiful wife’s arms. I love the morning kisses and hugs. Seeing my baby’s first smiles of the day. I love taking a shower in the mornings and feel revitalized. I love the smell of my coffee waiting for me. I absolutely love spending more time with my son while I driving from or to somewhere. I often tell him he is my best friend and I mean it. I love to see my wife’s relentlessly pushing this family forward.
I love to admire her strength, her commitment to our family. Many times because of our crazy life, I stopped admiring how beautiful she is, but also many times I slow down and see her, and remember every time why and how much I love her. Even when it seems I do so much, it doesn’t compare to all the things she has to do for and with us. I love to see my son growing up, enjoying his Karate lessons and having so much fun in theater. I love seeing that my daughter has my wife’s smile. People usually smile with their mouths, but they smile with their whole face.
Sure, I wish I had time to do other stuff, but the trade off I have is fantastic.
