There's no denying it. It is just easier when one parent stays home. I wish I could be that person. I tried. I wasn't happy. And already we are dealing with the new challenges this arrangement presents.
The boys have been sick on and off for a few weeks. Of course that meant sleepless nights for all of us, but the added dilemma of what to do with them during the day. With R, we just pushed through, dropping him off at the sitter and keeping him filled up with baby Tylenol.
Q was a different story. He was coughing and feverish and his throat hurt. We kept him out of preschool for a couple days, but he still went to the sitter's. On Wednesday though, we decided he was too sick, and needed to stay home. And there begins the problem. Who stays home with him? I argued I was in first month of work with a couldn't-be-missed training. T said he had a super-important meeting. We both stressed. We both got annoyed at the situation and each other.
Eventually, we figured it out. T stayed home in the morning, and I slipped out of work for the afternoon. I wasn't comfortable with it entirely, but it had to be done.
This will all get easier in a few months when I am comfortable and established in my job, and not afraid of looking like the person who is always leaving to deal with family issues. T will soon be the boss, which will bring advantages and new challenges. He will have the latitude to create his own schedule but a host of new responsibilities to juggle.
There's no doubt life would be infinitely simpler with me at home. No doubt who would stay home with sick kids and drive them to school and make lunch and schedule doctors appointments. Simpler, but not happier for me.
So we'll make it work with some challenging compromises along the way.
--MM
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