My day started this past Thursday with carpool at 7 am. It was followed shortly by another carpool at 730 am. I then saw that I was to walk Bailee, a neighbor’s dog, at 11 am. From then on, my morning and early afternoon were my own — until I had to drive carpools again at 215 and 4 pm.
Oh, and Robbie was headed to Sebring for the day to visit family.
I knew this to be true because Outlook said it was.
Interesting thing about this “work day.” Outlook had no mention of any “work” at all. Just a clutch of events that had everything to do with being a work-at-home dad.
That’s not to say I wouldn’t be busy. My white board was filled deadlines, and a half-dozen open Word docs revealed a fairly filled day ahead. And that doesn’t mean I wasn’t organized and my time wasn’t well managed. I was on top of it. It’s just that “it” had little to do with work.
But I thought when I gave up my corporate job almost 20 years ago I’d also given up the commute. Apparently not. Then again, being a work-at-home dad — or parent — means juggling business and family, finding compatibility between the two when you can.
Technology makes much of this possible — and makes me more reliable as an at-home parent. When I used paper-based scheduling and calendaring, I’d regularly miss appointments because I’d simply forget them. Even with Act!, and now Outlook, if I don’t schedule Bailee’s 11 am walk, she’ll go the day without a traipse around the block, leaving me to fib to her owners that, “Why, yes indeed, I did walk Bailee. I have NO idea why she pee’d for you for five minutes…”
And I always include a reminder 15 minutes before the scheduled event — even if that event is a walk with a dog.
Some out there are grinding their teeth right now, fuming that a neighbor would impose on me — someone who’s every bit the professional of my counterpart downtown, only one who works in the suburbs — such inane chores as a dog walk. Or that I’m driving four separate carpools. I don’t really have a problem with people who ask the occasional favor — whether Bailee’s humans or my kids’ mother. We impose on others. And no one’s habitual about their imposition.
Moreover, my kids have never seen daycare, early drop-off or late-stay/after-care. So I’m OK with all this. Besides, if I have to spend time in the carloop, I’ll being my BlackBerry or laptop and get some work done.
So one recent Thursday I had a very busy day indeed. I know I did, because Outlook told me so. It just didn’t make much mention of actual work needing doing. But such is the life of a work-at-home parent. We define “work” a bit differently in these parts…
Jeff on May 31st, 2008 | File Under Fatherhood, Work/Life Compatibility | No Comments -
