As the name of the blog suggests I work in the corporate world, the team I work with are corporate led and my client base are all senior management to director level. This means that I’m working out of our local area and end up spending the majority of my life on the road.
When it was Bethany, Mrs P and I it wasn’t ok but it was manageable. Mrs P also worked in central Manchester and our 1hr 45mins drive in the morning leaving at 6:30 was ok because we’d spend it talking in the car. The same in the evening too but as we have a 13 year old she would spend time in after school clubs and wait for us to come home sans 7pm.
Now this wasn’t idea; however it meant that we both had good jobs which meant we could live a lavish lifestyle and offer up the kind of extras other parents couldn’t afford.
But that’s all changed!
With the introduction of our bundle of joy meant that Mrs P was no longer working in central Manchester, he drive partner I shared the journey with is no longer there and from Monday to Friday I don’t see Dorothy unless she’s going atomic and there’s a feeling of loss that’s hard to describe.
Now there are serious amounts of benefits to this arrangement.
- Bethany has someone at home when she finishes school.
- Our two daughters have serious Mummy time.
- The house is very tidy and dinner is nearly always prepared for when I come home.
- etc…
Sounds good right?
As I never had a dad when I was growing up, and I will come that on another post, I don’t want to be an absent father. I know these are early days but the amount of growing up Dottie’s done in the last five months and Beth turning into a teenager I feel like I’m missing out. Don’t get me wrong, I make up for it at the weekends where I take Dottie out first thing for our Daddy Daughter Asda Shop 🙂 and she can’t get enough of me on Saturdays and Sundays. It’s almost like Mummy is favourite Mon to Fri and me the other two days. But it should be like that.
So what did I do?
First things first, I spoke to my employers. I explained the situation that I was in and what the issues were. Luckily my operations director is a mother of a two year old herself and fully understands the position that I’m in. I have to point out that due to my childhood I feel very strong about certain things and one of those is my immediate family and spending time with them. We spoke through various options but there are some non negotiables. You can’t move the office, you can’t reduce the traffic and because of my role it’s slap bang in core office hours.
So what did we do?
We looked at various options and ultimately I can’t go into too much detail on here, but the senior management up to director level were very open to change for the best and trying to restore the work life balance.
I don’t think there will ever be a complete balance as everyone would prefer to be at home, however with their help, we’re getting closer to it.
I’m also spending about 5-7 hours less on the road a week too, which is good for the environment and great for my family. Those 20 minutes at night I get to spend with Dottie have become really precious. So thanks work!
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