Sat down on the couch after a peaceful day at home. Had just gotten up after getting the two older kids to bed. Dove into my book, the third installment in The Expanse, “Abaddon’s Gate”. I’m nearly through the book at this point and the minutes are flying by as I get to the climax of the story.
My wife sits down on the couch next to me and casually says, “you have a few minutes?”.
I’m torn, probably shouldn’t be. End of the book is within reach and the clock has just passed midnight. A few minutes is probably going to be a talk. It’s not really a debate in my head, just a hesitation. I know where my priorities lie, with ensuring my wife is doing well and that we discuss anything important. But I’m also sooo close to the end of this book and a full work week, my last one, coming up and it’s now past midnight.
So we talk and all the tricky stuff comes up. Maybe it’s not really tricky, it’s what I’ve signed up to do. Will I take full responsibility for all the school stuff that is going to be coming up as our oldest enters elementary school? Yes. Will I be doing the house stuff? Yes. Can she work 9-6 every day and not need to worry about family stuff? Yes. The weight that she’s been carrying is shifting to my shoulders and the weight is palpable.
I grit my teeth. The tension is rising. Still, this is what I promised I would do and I need to figure out a way forward. I never expected a cakewalk or a vacation with this.
So there are two ways for me to take this, feeling sorry for myself and pessimistic or view this as an opportunity of a lifetime and enjoy the moment. There will be challenges, but I’m in a great position to learn like I haven’t in a long time. This won’t be web page optimization, marketing strategy, or figuring out ways to outsmart the competition, this is going to be about nurturing a family, making new social connections and navigating the bureaucracy of Japanese education.
So chin up and eyes forward. Let’s go do this.