20 August 2006
Weekends
The weekend is good thing for me. When Saturday rolls around I can feel justified in not following up on work emails, or trying to sneak in an extra hour or so of logged time.
On the weekends, I'm only a Dad (and husband). No conflicts of interest during the day. I have chores to do around the house. I have our son to watch (and have fun with). I have my wife to have meals with and some alone time when our son is napping or sleeping for the night.
There's never enough weekend time. There's a growing chore list for this house - of both recurring and one-off items. There's under-cabinet lighting that's been sitting around to be installed since Christmas. There's the weeds over running the landscaping. There's the lawn. There's the bathrooms. There's the playroom we're trying to get ready in the basement.
And then there's all the self-improvement things that are pushed off until we have "free time". Perusing Craigslist and the want ads for possible work. Writing the novels I've started. Entering writing contests. Writing in blogs. Exercise programs to start. Reading to catch up on.
All this and the normal Dad job of taking care if my son, which I feel includes taking time to play with him. I could just sit him in front of the electronic babysitter. We do have to do that when it's necessary for us to get something done in the next 30 to 60 minutes. But I'd like to think we don't do it very often. Today, the TV didn't get turned on at all until Jenni and went to watch a movie after our son's bedtime. We played hard today, and he really tried some walking on his own - just a step or two here and there, but it was great to see.
And now I sit here in bed trying to squeeze in some more enrichment time before I surrender to the next day and going back to balancing work and my home, while sitting amid the latter.
On the weekends, I'm only a Dad (and husband). No conflicts of interest during the day. I have chores to do around the house. I have our son to watch (and have fun with). I have my wife to have meals with and some alone time when our son is napping or sleeping for the night.
There's never enough weekend time. There's a growing chore list for this house - of both recurring and one-off items. There's under-cabinet lighting that's been sitting around to be installed since Christmas. There's the weeds over running the landscaping. There's the lawn. There's the bathrooms. There's the playroom we're trying to get ready in the basement.
And then there's all the self-improvement things that are pushed off until we have "free time". Perusing Craigslist and the want ads for possible work. Writing the novels I've started. Entering writing contests. Writing in blogs. Exercise programs to start. Reading to catch up on.
All this and the normal Dad job of taking care if my son, which I feel includes taking time to play with him. I could just sit him in front of the electronic babysitter. We do have to do that when it's necessary for us to get something done in the next 30 to 60 minutes. But I'd like to think we don't do it very often. Today, the TV didn't get turned on at all until Jenni and went to watch a movie after our son's bedtime. We played hard today, and he really tried some walking on his own - just a step or two here and there, but it was great to see.
And now I sit here in bed trying to squeeze in some more enrichment time before I surrender to the next day and going back to balancing work and my home, while sitting amid the latter.
