Work/Life Balance

The work/life balance is something I never really thought about before. For the last 6 years me and Jodie have been in stable jobs working Monday to Friday and enjoying each weekend as much as we can. There's been the odd hours of overtime to interrupt here and there but on the whole, it was all pretty easy.

Then we became parents.

Don't get me wrong, I love parenting, I don't think I'll ever see it in a negative light. It's an amazing privilege to be a Dad! But what I didn't anticipate was I never really appreciated how much time I had spare before having a baby.

I really think our relationship has been a saving grace in the big changes. Officially I go to work all day, but that doesn't mean Jodie staying at home is her getting off easy. She's working just as hard for just as long, she is the 24 hour parent/super Mum! If anything, it's me that gets a break going to work 8 hours a day. That appreciation and respect for each other really makes things flow easier, I see way too many parents trying to compete to see who works harder or does more work. I want Willow to grow up with two parents who back each other up and support each other, in hopes she will share those same values.

We're still adjusting to everything to see what works best. Right when we find something that works, Willow will throw in a curve ball and make her own routine the next day. But I guess that's what it's all about, growing and adapting with her while trying to fit her into our lives at the same time.

As for the life balance, Willow has actually saved us a fair amount of money. We used to enjoy a meal out most weekends and plenty of pointless shopping trips to get out of the house. Because it can be quite a chore to just leave the house on a spontaneous idea, we have cut back on that side of things. We actually are looking for things we can do now like going for walks or little coffee dates (my favourite!) The biggest change is definitely sleep. We have to allow for an extra hour waking and going to sleep to get bottles ready, change nappies and get carried away staring at Willow.

Lastly, having Willow has actually gotten the two of us a lot more organised. We are champion procrastinators, still are actually but now we have a bigger drive to organise ourselves, Willow and most aspects of our life. There's some big things coming in our near future and having a baby really pushes the incentive to actually go through with them and it feels good actually having a plan of action most days, there's a huge sense of satisfaction when it all goes to plan!

We're all still trying to find the balance but it's one incredible experience so far. Willow is pushing us to more exciting and better things already, as long as we keep focus on who we are as a married couple, parents and individuals who need the occasional 'me' time, I think we'll be just fine.