I have always been a hard worker and Type A personality. I am not ashamed to say that, nor do I feel as though I’m being egotistical when I say it. The fact of the matter is, I work much more than the average person for many reasons:
- It helps me provide a good life for my family
- It allows my wife to stay home with my beautiful girls and raise them, rather than having them sent to daycare
- I am the majority owner of a small business marketing firm with a very lean staff, so I have to wear several hats at once
- Although I manage the business, I am still one of the primary technicians in the business as well
- My future livelihood is dependent on the continued growth and success of my business
- I truly enjoy what I do… most of the time 
When I say that I wear many hats in my business, I really mean it…
I head up business development, marketing, strategic planning, sales, application development, mobile marketing/development, print marketing and customer service. I solely run HR, AP, AR, Accounting, Operations, Graphic Design, and a whole slew of other areas of the business. Overall, I run our business. That takes more time than I can actually commit to it every day. It’s not that I am a micromanager and just can’t let go of some of the responsibilities. In fact, I would love to hand off some of the roles I play to someone else. The problem is, there just isn’t anyone else to hand them to. We raw a very lean business and need to stay that way.
Bottom line, I love my job.
Being the Working Parent Can Really Suck
My girls are still very young at 2 and 4. To them, there is no difference between a Wednesday and a Saturday. They struggle with the notion that I have to work most of the week, and get 2 days a week to be with the family all day. Add to that the occasional weeknight that I have to attend a meeting or event and it really makes things more difficult.
The biggest challenge with this situation to me is that I just can’t change it. I have to work at least 5 days a week. I am the majority owner, so I need to attend most of the meetings and events. Â Frankly I work 7 days a week, just not all day, all 7 days.
A Home Office Helps & Hurts
You would think that it would make the weekday/weekend confusion easier since my business is run out of my basement and the girls get to see me much more than if I had a standard 9-5 job, but I have found that it actually makes things worse.
To them, it’s like I’m choosing to be downstairs working over spending time with them. Even worse, their mommy chooses to be with them all day instead of working. Now, I have tried to explain over and over to them that I would much rather spend all day with them like their mommy does, but I don’t think it fully sinks in.
What’s ironic about this whole situation is that I actually get to see the girls much more throughout the week than if I worked a normal 9-5 job…
Bumps/Bruises, Bedtime, Etc… – They Want Mommy
When you spend 10+ hours a day with your kids while the other parent is working, you have the great fortune of becoming their best friend. It does come at a price though, because it’s rare that they want their daddy to do many of the common parental tasks… Â which can really be painful as the working parent.
This part is easily the hardest aspect of being the working parent for me. My wife gets to have a very strong and special relationship with my girls that I jut cannot achieve, unless I quit my job and we all live in a cardboard box together…
Mommy Needs A Break
I have a huge appreciation for the amount of time my wife spends with our girls on a daily basis. At their ages, they are a full-time job ++ for sure. They always need entertained, fed, etc… It’s a lot of work.
At the end of my work day when I could use a half hour to clear my thoughts and regroup, I really need to be occupying my girls. I will admit to not always doing the best job of it, but I do try.
To make matters worse, if the girls are having a bad day, they tend to not want to start playing with me. They want their mommy. This frustrates my wife, and hurts me, no matter how much I understand why they do this.
I Don’t Have the Solution
Although I really wish I had a solution to this challenge, I just don’t. I would love to hear any advice you have in the comments below.
