Kids Will Rule Your World

I can’t believe that my son Hank is turning 5 this week! On one hand, it seems that time has really just flown by; on the other hand, I don’t remember my life before children.

A friend of mine had her first child a few years after I did. When she was pregnant, she talked about trying to work out a flexible arrangement with her employer once her daughter was born. She mentioned that she might try to work from home a few days a week, at least while her daughter was an infant so she could spend some time with her. I cautioned her that she may not want to count on getting too much done in a day with the baby at home. She didn’t pay too much attention to my advice until the baby came along. She really thought that the baby would just sleep a lot and she really could get some work done.

And then reality hit. She had a particularly fussy baby and there would be no working, or doing anything else while the baby was there. She later asked, “why didn’t you tell me what it was really like?”

I told her that I had tried to tell her, but you just can’t comprehend how all-consuming children are until you have them. Your life shifts from being your life, to being your life that you are trying to work in around your kids’ needs.

I’ve tried to urge expecting parents that I know to really think about what they want in a work arrangement before the child comes along. But most don’t understand the challenge until they are buried in it.